Mother, father, daughter identified as 3 found dead in burning Riverside home

Mourners left devastated after a mother, father and daughter were found dead inside their burning Riverside home gathered at the scene of the killings to hold a candlelit vigil on Saturday night.

Family and friends identified the victims as Mark and Sharie Winek, a married couple and grandparents who lived at the home at 11261 Price Court found ablaze the morning of Friday, Nov. 25. The third victim discovered inside was the Wineks’ adult daughter, Brooke, herself a single mother.

Riverside police were investigating the deaths the day after Thanksgiving as a triple murder; A man they sought was killed hours later when San Bernardino County Sheriff’s deputies found him in Needles on Friday. Neither San Bernardino sheriff’s officials nor Riverside police have provided the man’s name, his relationship to the family, or whether it was deputies who shot him during a “lethal force” encounter.

The Wineks were described as a loving family with deep connections to communities in western Riverside County.

“Mark Winek was a loving Father, Grandfather, Uncle, Brother, and Coach at Arlington High School,” organizers of a GoFundMe attempting to raise $100,000 for the family wrote. “Sharie Winek was a sweet and caring Mother, Grandmother, Sister, and Aunt who cherished spending time with her family. Brooke Winek was a beloved single mother with the biggest heart and found her most immense joy in following her daughter in the Color Guard at Arlington High School.”

Brooke Winek (GoFundMe photo)

To the mourners gathered on Price Court late Saturday night, the Wineks were caring friends whose violent deaths came as a shock.

Up until the week before he died, Mark Winek was a regular presence in his friend Ron Smith’s life.

Their 30-year friendship began when they met coaching baseball at Corona High School, Smith said. From then on, Winek became not only a close friend but a beloved figure in the Inland Empire high school sports community – for athletes and coaches alike.

“Mark was a man who was huge in the softball and baseball coaching ranks,” Smith said, adding that he was even a “well-respected coach for teams on the other side.”

Smith and Winek later worked together at Eleanor Roosevelt High School. Winek later left that job, but through birthdays, anniversaries, Notre Dame football, and home renovations, the friends kept in touch.

Smith was a regular at the Wineks’ Price Court home, and helped them remodel their kitchen. Recently, Smith gifted his old friend a signed football from famed University of Notre Dame football underdog Rudy Ruettiger.

“You can’t ask for a better friend than Mark,” Smith said.

Smith said there were no signs of trouble before the killings Friday. The only unusual thing Smith could remember was that the friends hadn’t sent each other Thanksgiving greetings this year.

“It’s a shock,” Smith said. “He’s a dear friend, there’s going to be a hole in my heart that’s going to be hard to fill.”

Sheri Lazzarini, another mourner outside the home on Saturday, said she met Mark Winek when he asked to join her softball coaching staff at La Sierra High School in 1994, while his daughters were attending the school. At La Sierra, she said, “the kids loved him.”

She especially remembered Winek’s dedication to maintaining the school’s baseball field. He even brought his own lawn mower to keep the grass tidy.

After they stopped working together, Lazzarini said Winek, who called her “little sis,” still faithfully texted her on birthdays and holidays. She said he was a “special man.”

“He was a man dedicated to helping student-athletes,” Lazzarini said. “I don’t want the legacy to be what’s happened, because he was a really special man.”

Riverside police officials were not immediately available on Sunday to answer questions about the triple-murder investigation. It’s not clear how any of the victims died or whether the fire at the home was intentionally set.

Police said the man who deputies killed in Needles was seen leaving the home and arguing with a “female” outside on Friday. A short time later, the house was on fire. When firefighters arrived, they found the three bodies inside.

A “female” found with the man in Needles was described as safe on Friday night. No other information about her was provided.

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