Double Shooting Leaves Mother, 29, Dead

A woman was killed and a man was wounded in a house in the Chantilly area early yesterday in a shooting that Fairfax County police said appeared to be "domestic in nature."

The woman was identified as Morena Magdalena Martinez, 29, who neighbors said was a real estate agent. The man, who is 29, was not named, and police did not describe his relationship to Martinez. Police said a third person shot the two.

A next-door neighbor said Martinez had lived in the two-story house in the 13600 block of Pennsboro Drive with her four young children for about a year. He said she had grown up in the area.

The neighbor, speaking on condition of anonymity because the assailant was thought to be at large, said he was awakened about 1:30 a.m. by loud knocking on his door.

The neighbor opened the door to find the 29-year-old man, a stranger, shoeless and with blood running down his left arm. "He was in a lot of pain," the neighbor said. "He just kept repeating this name over and over . . . something Martinez."

Officers went into the Martinez residence and emerged with the children, who appeared unaware of the shooting. "They were sound asleep," the neighbor said.

The neighbor and his wife, a teacher, took in the four children -- none older than 12 -- as well as a fifth child unknown to them until their grandparents arrived.

The Martinez house, a block from Brookfield Elementary School, is in a neighborhood of basketball hoops, swing sets and inflatable pools.