A 911 call released Thursday indicates that actor Michael Jace, who is charged with killing his wife, called and told his father-in-law about the shooting soon after it happened.
In the three-minute call, the father of April Jace told a dispatcher that his son-in-law had called and texted him about the shooting and wanted him to get the couple’s two young children.
“My son-in-law called me, and (texted) me, and said come get the kids because he shot April, our daughter,” the caller, whose name was redacted from the audio, told a fire department dispatcher.
Michael, who played a police officer on the TV series The Shield, was arrested on May 19 and police have said he also called 911 directly to report that he had shot his wife. That call was not released.
Michael has been charged with murder but has not yet entered a plea.
By the time April’s father called 911, police had already been notified of the shooting, according to the audio.
Michael’s attorneys Jason Sias and Jamon Hicks did not comment on the audio’s contents but noted that the case against their client is relatively new and they were still investigating.
“We have the utmost concern for the Jace children,” Sias and Hicks wrote. “Mr Jace [Michael] has a constitutional right to a defence. It remains extremely early and we are still in the fact finding process.”
April’s family released a statement last week calling her death “a senseless act of domestic violence”. The family said it was rallying around April’s three sons, who range in ages from 5 to 18.
April, 40, was a financial aid counsellor at Biola University had two sons with her husband, both of whom were at home at the time of her killing. They were uninjured. Her oldest son was from a previous marriage.
Detectives have said they are investigating whether financial difficulties or other marital problems led to the shooting. Michael filed for bankruptcy in 2011 and had fallen behind on payments to creditors as recently as December.
Michael also appeared on the show Southland and had small roles in the movies such as Planet of the Apes, Boogie Nights and Forrest Gump.
