On January 6, 2019, 40-year-old Heidi RaNae De Leon was shot to death in her Meridian, Idaho, home on West Charles Street. Her ex-husband, Edward Lynn Epps Jr., forced his way into the residence armed with two handguns and shot Heidi multiple times after Joe Paul De Leon, her new husband, was shot and killed in the hallway while trying to intervene. Three young girls were in the house: Heidi and Epps’s daughters, ages 10 and 13, and Joe De Leon’s 11-year-old daughter.

The eldest child ran to a neighbor’s to call for help; the other two were held inside for hours before police negotiations secured their release unharmed. After the children were freed, Epps died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Court filings show a lengthy, contentious divorce and ongoing custody and support disputes; Epps had been served with a civil protection order the day before the shooting and the couple was due in court later that month.

Anyone with information about Heidi or the events leading up to January 6, 2019, is asked to come forward.