Ex-boyfriend of victims’ relative charged in Pleasanton killings of mother, son – The Mercury News

PLEASANTON — An ex-boyfriend of a relative of the victims, who admitted being at their home when a 67-year-old woman and her 28-year-old son were fatally shot Feb. 18, was charged Tuesday with two counts of murder, according to authorities and court records.

According to authorities and court documents, after his arrest the suspect, Allen Swadley, 31, admitted to police he was at the home in the 3100 block of Joanne Circle when Lori Simonds and her son, Evan Simonds were shot, but declined to comment further to investigators. He was being held without bail at Santa Rita Jail and was scheduled to enter a plea March 9.

According to the documents, Swadley is the ex-boyfriend of a family member of the victims. That person also lived at the home but was not present when the killings happened.

According to court documents, police got a call about 10:05 a.m. Feb. 18 from a maintenance man in the area of the Simonds home, saying he heard what he believed to be four gunshots coming from the home, a female voice screaming, and then two more gunshots.

Officers got to the home about 10:11 a.m.; when they went inside they found the mother and son dead from multiple gunshot wounds. No firearm was located, the documents say.

The person who had been previously dating Swadley later told police there was no one she would think would harm she or anyone in her family, the documents say. But she did advise that her ex-boyfriend was the only person she knew who owned guns and knew where the family hid their house key from prior visits. She also said their relationship had ended in late December of 2025.

Authorities said there was no sign of a forced entry to the home; they did not say if they believed a key was used to gain entry.