Mom and Boyfriend Killed in Murder-Suicide by Daughter’s Ex, Who Demanded Sex at Gunpoint

NEED TO KNOW

• Kimberly Pieranunzi, 40, and her boyfriend, Donald Roderick Jr., 45, were found fatally shot inside the Woonsocket home

• Investigators say Sean Rivera, 24, the ex-boyfriend of Pieranunzi’s daughter, Jazmyn Roderick, who had been living in the home, opened fire after a confrontation in Roderick’s bedroom

• Roderick escaped the apartment and ran to a nearby smoke shop for help

A Rhode Island mom and her boyfriend were fatally shot after the woman spoke with her daughter’s ex-boyfriend about tensions in the young couple’s relationship.

Kimberly Pieranunzi, 40, and her boyfriend, Donald Roderick Jr., 45, were found fatally shot inside Pieranunzi’s Woonsocket apartment on Nov. 3, along with 24-year-old Sean Rivera, whom police identified as the gunman, per WJAR, ABC 6 and the Boston Globe.

Police said Rivera shot Pieranunzi and Roderick before turning the gun on himself, according to the outlets.

Investigators said Rivera had been dating Pieranunzi’s 19-year-old daughter, Jazmyn, and the pair “were discussing their strained relationship” when he pulled out a gun and demanded sex, per the outlets. Police said the confrontation escalated inside Jazmyn’s second-floor bedroom before she fled toward her mother’s room.

“I know that none of us were supposed to live that night,” Jazmyn told WJAR.

She recalled hearing a knock, seeing Rivera’s hand appear in the crack of the door and then a burst of light.

“I remember I saw bright white,” Jazmyn explained. “I couldn’t see anything for a second, couldn’t hear anything. Didn’t even feel like I felt anything in a second. So I thought that I was dead.”

Rivera shot Pieranunzi multiple times in her bedroom before shooting Roderick when he arrived home, then fatally shooting himself, authorities said, according to the outlets.

Surveillance video showed Jazmyn fleeing the apartment and running into a nearby smoke shop for help.

“She’s yelling there’s a shooting, my mom, all kinds of stuff like that, she’s scared, she’s like ‘hide me,’” store employee Dominique Domingo told WJAR. “She had blood all over her hands and all over her clothes.”

Neighbor Joseph Cabral told the outlet he saw police rush into the building “with their guns out.”

Police said they recovered a .380-caliber handgun inside the home and later learned it had been reported stolen out of Maine, per WJAR and ABC 6. Officials said the shooting was confined to the residents of the apartment and posed no ongoing threat to the public.

Pieranunzi was enrolled in the Community College of Rhode Island’s LPN-to-RN program and was expected to graduate in December, CCRI President Rosemary Costigan said in a statement, calling her a “dedicated student” whose loss is “deeply felt across our CCRI community.”

At a vigil in Bernon Park, friends described Pieranunzi as fiercely loyal and hardworking. “I want her to be remembered as strong, determined, smart, and beautiful,” friend Candace Wilkinson told WJAR.

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“Being her friend was a privilege, because she would go above and beyond for you,” she told the outlet.

Jazmyn said she is holding onto the stories people are sharing. “I mean she was always super great in my mind,” she said. “But just learning all these little things makes me feel good. Like I have more things to remember her by. I’m not going to keep my mind on the bad because there’s still so much good.”

According to his online obituary, Roderick was “a hardworking and devoted man who cared deeply for his family. Donald always put his loved ones first and would do anything to protect and support them.”

Roderick’s obituary added that he loved to “fish, travel, and spend time with his family. Fishing brought him peace and a chance to enjoy the quiet beauty of nature.”

Pieranunzi’s sister, Tracy Murphy, told WJAR that the family is supporting one another. “Though it seems like we are so strong,” she said, “we do process things, we talk about things, we talk about things, we hug each other.”

Sojourner House CEO Vanessa Volz said the killings reflect a devastating pattern of intimate partner violence in Rhode Island.

“We are devastated by the senseless act of domestic violence that occurred in Woonsocket last night, claiming the lives of Kimberly Pieranunzi and Donald Roderick Jr.,” she said. “Their stories — although painful — are ones we cannot allow ourselves to forget.”

Two GoFundMe pages have been launched to help cover funeral costs for Pieranunzi and Roderick and to support Jazmyn as she grieves and recovers, according to the outlets.

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