Cal State Fullerton basketball coach, fiance found dead
Cal State Fullerton assistant women's NCCA college basketball coach Monica Quan
An Irvine police officer talks on the phone Monday, Feb. 4, 2013 at the entrance to the parking garage where two people were found shot to death in their car in Irvine, Calif., Sunday night, Feb. 3. Police in Orange County say they have no motive for a shooting that killed California State University, Fullerton assistant college basketball coach Monica Quan and her fiance, Keith Lawrence, whose bodies were found in a parked car. (AP Photo/The Orange County Register, Sam Gangwer) MAGS OUT; LOS ANGELES TIMES OUT
Cal State Fullerton athletics director Jim Donovan speaks as women's basketball coach Marcia Foster listens during a brief news conference about the death of assistant coach Monica Quan, Monday, Feb. 4, 2013, in Fullerton, Calif. Quan 28, and her fiance, Keith Lawrence, 27, were found shot to death on the top floor of a parking structure at their condominium complex Sunday, police said. (AP Photo/The Orange County Register, Bruce Chambers) MAGS OUT LOS ANGELES TIMES OUT
IRVINE, Calif. » Two Southern California college employees, a coach and a campus safety officer, were found shot to death in a car at their upscale condominium complex in Southern California, and authorities say they have no motive or suspects in the killing.
Cal State Fullerton assistant women’s basketball coach Monica Quan, 28, and her fiance Keith Lawrence, 27, were found dead around 9 p.m. Sunday on the top floor of a parking structure at the complex, police said. Officers found their bodies after someone reported seeing Lawrence slumped over the wheel of his vehicle.
Quan was found in the front passenger seat and Lawrence was in the driver seat, Irvine Police Lt. Julia Engen said.
"It doesn’t appear they were robbed," Engen told the Orange County Register. "There’s no obvious motive."
Few other details have been released, but both campuses where the couples worked issued statements grieving the loss.
Lawrence and Quan played basketball at Concordia University, where they met while they were students, according to Brian Gaul, the school’s athletic director.
Quan was in her second season as an assistant coach at Cal State Fullerton.
"The loss of any member of the Titan family causes our community great grief, but the loss of one of our own under these circumstances is indeed tragic and heart-wrenching," university President Mildred Garcia said in a statement Monday. "We hope that Monica’s family and friends will feel and be comforted by our support during this difficult time."
Counselors will be available for staff and student athletes, Garcia said.
At USC, Chief John Thomas called Lawrence an "honorable, compassionate and professional member of our department and The Trojan Family."
Engen said the couple recently moved into the condominium complex. The parking structure requires a key-code for entry and there are security cameras throughout the complex, a resident told the Los Angeles Times.
"We moved here because it was so safe — Irvine was the safest city in America," Sharon Smith said. "I guess like anywhere else, we’re going to have a few incidents. … Nobody worries about living here."
