Family Struggles to Pay Medical Bills After Mother Shot in Head in Sylmar Home

A family was struggling to cover medical expenses after a Sylmar mother was shot in the head by her husband, leaving her comatose.

Shreds of crime scene tape still littered the pavement outside Deana Broughton's Sylmar mobile home on Monday.

Her cousin, Amber Schwartz, said the mother of three was shot in the head by her husband, Jason Wilson, who seconds later, killed himself.

Schwartz said her cousin is a hard-working mother who cared for her 6-year-old Kortnie, 3-year-old Ashley, and her teenage son, Lance.

She said trouble was brewing for a long while - at least 10 years - between Broughton and her husband. Neighbors corroborated the troubled relationship, saying fights at the home were endless, loud, and sometimes violent.

"He would call her constantly, you know? He was just rude to her friends," Schwartz said.

In December, Broughton had finally had enough. She kicked Wilson out, and was planning on divorcing him.

The home she had so carefully decorated with children's' drawings, photos and doll houses would be their sanctuary from a chaotic life.

"She was finally letting go," Schwartz said.

Schwartz said Wilson shot Broughton and then himself in their Sylmar home. He died. 

Surgeons performed a tracheotomy on Broughton at the hospital.

"She slipped into cardiac arrest and flat-lined for 45 minutes," Schwartz said.

Broughton is still lying in a hospital bed at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills.

"It's so hard because she's on all this equipment, and she opens her eyes," Schwartz said through tears.

Broughton's daughters are in foster homes.

Her son is living with his father now.

Schwartz is Broughton's only living blood relative.

"I know she's there. She's trying, you know?" Schwartz said.

Schwartz has started a GoFundMe for Broughton's mounting hospital bills, and it can be found here.