EL CAJON — An Escondido man suspected of shooting and killing two people in a home in Ramona earlier this week pleaded not guilty in court on July 9, as prosecutors shared more details of the circumstances surrounding the crime.
Ryan Proffitt, 33, has been charged with two counts of homicide for the deaths of Courtney Chandler, 28, and Nicholas McClure, 32. He entered his not-guilty plea during an arraignment in the El Cajon Courthouse on Thursday afternoon.
According to testimony shared in court by the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office and reported by FOX 5 San Diego, Proffitt called police on Monday evening and reported that he had been involved in a “lover’s quarrel” and that two people were dead.
Deputies responded to the home, located in a military housing development in the 600 block of 11th Street, and discovered Proffitt sitting on the porch drinking a beer. They also found Chandler and McClure inside the home with traumatic gunshot wounds. Both died from their injuries.
Proffitt was arrested at the scene.
According to FOX 5, prosecutors stated that Proffitt and Chandler had lived together and were in an open relationship. They said Proffitt had grown jealous after Chandler began a relationship with McClure, who also had moved in and been living with the couple for around a week and a half.
Prosecutors said Proffitt confronted the two about their relationship with a loaded gun. McClure allegedly charged at Proffitt, who then shot him multiple times before also shooting Chandler.
Prior to the shooting, Chandler also texted a friend saying that Proffitt had a gun, prosecutors said.
Chandler was in the Navy and would have celebrated her 29th birthday on July 24, according to a GoFundMe created by her family to raise money for funeral expenses. They described her as “the life of the party,” and a lover of the outdoors, fishing and hunting, the military, and anime.
“Her loss has shattered our family, and we are doing everything we can to honor her memory while navigating unimaginable grief,” her family wrote on the GoFundMe.
McClure’s mother told FOX 5 that her son was a good man who was raised in Kentucky and had moved to San Diego while taking automotive classes as he worked to “find his way.”
Proffitt’s next hearing is scheduled for July 16.
