Monica Quan and Keith Lawrence: Calif. college women's basketball coach and her fiance found dead inside car, report says

By: Crimesider Staff
Topics: Daily Blotter

Cal State Fullerton assistant women's NCCA college basketball coach Monica Quan

/ AP Photo/Cal State Fullerton

(AP) 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.

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Cal State Fullerton assistant women's basketball coach Monica Quan, 28, and her fiance University of Southern California public safety officer 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."