Full Notification

While many details cannot be released or are yet to be determined due to the ongoing nature of the investigation, the Sheriff’s Office is releasing some additional information on the triple homicide that occurred on December 28, 2018.

The person who called 911 lived at the residence and had returned home to find her friend, victim Nicole McNabb, covered with blood in the bathtub. She fled the home and called for help. Victim Carlos Echavarria also lived at the residence and was a friend of victim Melanie McNabb. The motive for this brutal act of violence is still under investigation and has not been determined. All three victims lived at the residence and were brutally beaten and stabbed. Autopsies are pending but there is no preliminary evidence to indicate that any of the victims were shot.

Due to his 2014 domestic violence conviction, suspect David McNabb was not legally permitted to own or possess a firearm. Detectives are in the process of trying to determine the ownership of the rifle that he was armed with when confronted by deputies. Other than his domestic violence conviction, suspect David McNabb did not appear to have any other criminal history.

After McNabb was shot by deputies with less lethal munitions, he remained armed and a threat to deputies. A total of two deputies deployed less lethal munitions and four deputies shot at McNabb. An autopsy for David McNabb is scheduled for Thursday, January 3, 2019.

During the course of the investigation, detectives determined that David McNabb’s younger brother, 40-year-old Brian McNabb of Santa Maria, had previously assaulted another family member at Brian McNabb’s residence in the City of Santa Maria prior to the triple homicide incident on December 28, 2018. On December 30, 2018, Sheriff’s deputies arrested Brian McNabb at his home. He was booked at the Santa Barbara County Jail on charges of battery with serious bodily injury and is being held on $50,000 bail.