On a tragic afternoon in Aiken, South Carolina, the life of 34-year-old Rosa Salguero-Landaverde was cut short in a devastating act of violence. On Thursday, June 2, 2022, deputies from the Aiken County Sheriff's Office responded to a call at a residence on Summerhill Avenue. Inside the master bedroom, they discovered the bodies of Rosa and her 37-year-old husband, Yoni Vargas.
Both had sustained fatal gunshot wounds.
Investigators determined that Vargas shot his wife before turning the gun on himself in a murder-suicide. The couple's five children, who were across the street at the time, were the ones to call for help, forever changing the course of their young lives. An autopsy was ordered for Salguero-Landaverde to confirm the cause of death. No autopsy was scheduled for Vargas.
Further investigation into the incident revealed a history of domestic violence. Vargas had been arrested in 2016 on a charge of second-degree domestic violence. While online court records indicated a conviction for driving without a license, the disposition of the domestic violence charge was not readily available. The community was left to grapple with the profound loss and the harsh realities of domestic violence that led to this heartbreaking outcome.
