Beloved Mom of 3 ID'd as Victim of Thanksgiving Murder-Suicide at Hands of Her Ex-Husband 

Mayra Uriarte was a 36-year-old mother getting by on her own.

On Thanksgiving Day, the man that her family identified as her ex-husband fatally shot her, before turning his gun on himself, police said.

The double tragedy was discovered by deputies with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office, who responded about 11:10 a.m. Nov. 25 to reports of a disturbance at a Best Western motel in Goleta, Calf., the agency reported in a news release.

First responders took both gunshot victims to area hospitals, but both died within hours from their injuries.

The sheriff's office called it a murder-suicide, and identified the shooter as 37-year-old Hector Manuel Altamirano Martinez, from Mexico.

"The decedents were in a previous relationship and share a child in common," according to the sheriff's office. "Each died from a single gunshot wound."

Uriarte, from the Salt Lake City suburb of West Valley City, Utah, "was a very strong, independent, single mother raising her three young daughters," according to a GoFundMe donor request seeking help with the family's funeral costs. A portion of funds raised also "will be set aside for her daughters who will have to grow up now without a mother and father."

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Uriarte's Facebook page identified her as the owner of El Rey Del Pollo Mexican restaurant in Salt Lake City.

Three days before she was shot, she appeared to be celebrating her 36th birthday. "Happy Birthday to Me! #36," she wrote. "Gracias a Dios."

Uriarte's mother, Cecilia Arriaga, wrote on Facebook: "My heart is broken, they took my daughter's life down. Now you are with God, beautiful daughter. I will never forget you and I will forever have you in my heart. I love you so much daughter."

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.