On the night of August 20, 1989, in their Beverly Hills home, José and Kitty were in the den when their sons, Lyle and Erik, entered, armed with shotguns. José was shot multiple times, suffering six wounds, including a lethal shot to the back of his head from a Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun. Kitty endured a total of ten gunshot wounds; before the final, deadly shot struck her cheek, she was on the floor, attempting to crawl while crying. Lyle briefly left the scene to reload his weapon before returning to fire the fatal shot that ended her life.