Friends, co-workers remember slain woman

Marisa O’Neil

The sound of Russian Orthodox chants and the aroma of frankincense

filled the air as friends and family bid farewell Wednesday to Lilia

Cheron, shot to death last week in her Costa Mesa home.

She was three weeks away from her 38th birthday.

Cheron, who emigrated from Ukraine about 10 years ago, died the

morning of Oct. 19 after she called 911 and told police that her

father-in-law had shot her. Prosecutors from the Orange County

district attorney’s office filed murder charges Friday against

84-year-old Theodore Cheron, hospitalized with a self-inflicted

gunshot wound to the head. He is in a coma and not expected to live,

Deputy Dist. Atty. Matt Murphy said.

Wednesday’s memorial, at a Santa Ana mortuary, was conducted

almost entirely in Russian. A Russian Orthodox priest led prayers and

chants in Russian as singers joined in somber, melodious Russian

hymns.

“She was such a giving person,” said a friend who identified

herself only as Yoshiko.

Japanese-born Yoshiko knew Lilia Cheron for two years and took

Russian lessons from her. After their lessons, they would hold

Russian tea ceremonies together, she said.

In her native country, Cheron worked as an accountant, Yoshiko

said. She worked part-time at the Bank of America in Corona del Mar

and took classes at Orange Coast College in English and accounting.

Co-workers from her bank came to the memorial service en masse to

pay their last respects. Workers from other branches worked in Corona

del Mar Wednesday, so everyone there could attend the memorial, bank

manager Mike Amaral said.

Her co-workers described Lilia Cheron as a bright, smiling spirit

who was infinitely proud of her 12-year-old daughter. Her daughter

and 52-year-old husband, George Cheron, were not home at the time of

the shooting.

Theodore and Lilia Cheron had difficulties in the past, according

to police. He had emigrated from Russia to Costa Mesa in the 1950s

but still held to old traditions, Costa Mesa Police Lt. Ron Smith

said. Lilia Cheron, who lived in the home with her husband and

daughter from a previous marriage, was more modern and progressive,

which met with her father-in-law’s disapproval, Smith said.

Investigators believe Theodore Cheron pursued her through the

house the morning of the shooting and shot her three times, Murphy

said. The last shot was heard on the 911 tape, he said.

When police arrived at the house, they found Lilia Cheron in an

upstairs bedroom. Theodore Cheron was standing in a downstairs

bedroom, clutching a handgun, with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to

his head, police said. He surrendered without incident, police said.

Prosecutors dropped the $1-million bail set for Theodore Cheron

because he is in a coma and not likely to survive, Murphy said. If he

does, his bail status will be renewed, and he will be fully

prosecuted.

Removing his bail allows the family, not the Orange County

Sheriff’s Department, to make life-support decisions and prevents a

lengthy investigation into what police and prosecutors believe is a

clear-cut case, he said.

“Based on the investigation, he was in command of all his

faculties,” Murphy said. “This was a cold-blooded murder.”

* MARISA O’NEIL covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (714) 966-4618 or by e-mail at marisa.oneil@latimes.com.