California man accused of killing his mother, a beloved kindergarten teacher, during fight
A Burbank, California, kindergarten teacher was killed in an altercation with her adult son on Tuesday, according to police.
Bret Harte School teacher Karyn Lombardo, 57, was pronounced dead at her home on North Avon Street around 10 p.m., Fox LA reported.
Her 25-year-old adult son, Kyle Lombardo, was arrested on suspicion of murder based on evidence obtained at the scene, and he is being held on $2 million bail, the outlet reported.
Detectives determined that the mother was killed in an altercation with her son, who lived with her in the home. Police have not announced a motive in the killing, but the teacher’s husband, Vince, told KTLA that he has a mental condition and that police have been called to the home in the past.
“It’s a reactionary system and that’s basically what I was told,” Vince said of his son. “Until something happens, you can’t do anything. That’s there’s not enough help to help these people, especially when they become adults.”
“She loved him more than anything and tried to help him,” he said of his wife. “All of her students love her. Coming through the system here, there were students who became teachers because of her. She’s a very magnificent person and I think if you ask anybody, I think she’s too kind and that she loves to a fault.”
Vince said his wife’s death was a “loss to the world,” saying that she taught in the community for over 30 years and that he always called her “the unofficial mayor of Burbank.”
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The slain woman’s husband of 31 years told the outlet that he last spoke to his wife via phone while he was away in Lake Arrowhead the night she was killed.
“We texted and everything was fine,” he recalled. “I expected to see her today, and then I got the call.”
Shortly afterward, he was contacted by police and told that his wife was dead.
Natalie Talamantes, the school’s incoming PTA president, told KTLA that Lombardo was “the heart and soul of Bret Harte, an outstanding teacher,” and that “you would always see her in her bee costume.”
Former student Zoe Bautista said the kindergarten teacher “made us feel like we were the luckiest kids in the world.”
“She would always tell us that if we were down, just to love ourselves and to talk to our parents about it,” Bautista recalled.
John Paramo, superintendent of the Burbank Unified School District, said that the teacher “touched the lives of thousands of students, parents and colleagues” during her 30-year career. She had worked at Bret Harte since 1993. Beforehand, she was a bilingual teacher at Joaquin Miller Elementary for three years.
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“Her dedication, warmth and passion for teaching touched many students and colleagues’ lives,” Paramo said. “Her profound impact and loss on this community will be deeply felt throughout the City of Burbank.”
A growing memorial of flowers and notes could be seen outside the elementary school on Wednesday night, KTLA reported.