Cal Fire captain charged in El Dorado County shooting deaths of girlfriend, boy
A Cal Fire captain accused of killing his girlfriend and her son in a Cameron Park home last week pleaded not guilty Monday to two counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances, making him eligible for the death penalty if convicted.
Darin McFarlin, 47, was arrested just Friday morning in Mono County along Highway 395 near Bridgeport. His arrest came about three hours after El Dorado County sheriff’s deputies responded to reports of a shooting at a home on Oakwood Road in Cameron Park.
McFarlin is charged with murdering 29-year-old Marissa Herzog and her son, a second-grader identified in media reports as Josiah. Prosecutors allege Herzog was intentionally killed because she witnessed a crime. The boy also was alleged to have been a witness.
Prosecutors allege that McFarlin had assaulted the woman inside a “bedroom before she left the room and used her cellphone and before he obtained the gun and went out to the dining room to kill her.”
The El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office has filed multiple special circumstance allegations, including committing multiple murders, murder of a witness to prevent testimony and intentional discharge of a firearm causing death and child endangerment.
The Sheriff’s Office said Herzog was pronounced dead at the scene. Her son later died at a hospital. A second child, identified by family members as the woman’s daughter, was found in the home not injured.
McFarlin is a captain with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and had been employed with the agency since 2000, according to previous Bee reporting. He was assigned to the Amador-El Dorado unit.
The adult victim had been previously identified by the Sheriff’s Office as Marissa N. Divodi-Lessa of Shingle Springs. It was not immediately clear why the complaint refers to her as Herzog.
McFarlin remains in custody without bail, jail records show. He is set to return to court for a pretrial hearing Sept. 29.
Friends and relatives launched a GoFundMe campaign to help cover funeral and legal expenses for Herzog, previously identified as Marissa Divodi-Lessa, and her son, who were residents of Shingle Springs. As of Tuesday morning, the fundraiser had collected more than $42,000.
Organizer Emily Meinzer, a family friend, wrote that the victims were “cherished members of our community,” and the fundraiser includes tributes from family members, including Marissa’s surviving daughter. “She was the best Mommy everrrrr,” the girl wrote. “My brother, Jojo, would always play games with me, especially Hide-and-Seek.”
