Victims identified in Port Hueneme double fatality

Authorities have identified the man and woman found dead in Port Hueneme Saturday night in a possible homicide-suicide.

Eva Berrueto-Gough was 21, the Ventura County Medical Examiner's Office reported Wednesday afternoon. Ethan Gough was 22. Both were Port Hueneme residents, the agency said.

The cause and manner of death were not yet available for release, the medical examiner's office said in an email. The county agency conducts autopsies and determines the cause and manner of death when a fatality is suspicious or unexpected.

An official at the Medical Examiner's Office said Thursday the cause and manner have not been released because they are still being determined.

The two were married and Berrueto-Gough was pregnant, Port Hueneme Police Chief Michael Federico said in an email Wednesday night.

The two had been married about nine months, according to a cousin of Berrueto-Gough.

Gough was originally from Kansas while Berrueto-Gough was born and raised in Texas, military records from the Department of the Navy show. He was assigned to Navy Mobile Construction Battalion 4 in Port Hueneme.

Navy officials said by email Burrueto-Gough was a reserve in Port Hueneme under the 1st Naval Constriction Regiment.

The couple was found dead when police responded around 7:20 p.m. Saturday to the 700 block of East Port Hueneme Road regarding gunshots fired inside a residence.

The Port Hueneme Police Department has said there were no outstanding suspects.

Federico said Sunday the agency was investigating the incident as a potential homicide-suicide, but the department has provided no new details about what happened inside the home since then. The chief said Wednesday his department was waiting on information from the medical examiner's office regarding the manner and cause of death.

A registry on Pottery Barn Kids listed under Berrueto-Gough's name indicated an apparent due date of May 11 for an expected baby.

Carlos Berrueto, 30, of San Diego, said Berrueto-Gough was his first cousin. She announced in December she was pregnant with a girl. The couple had been married about nine months, he said.

Berrueto described his cousin as funny, soft-spoken, calm and a little bit shy. She liked spending time with her grandmother in Texas. 

“It’s just hard to know that she’s not here anymore," he said by phone Wednesday evening, later adding: “I don’t think anybody could have anything bad to say about Eva."

Berrueto-Gough was born in Houston, Texas, where she lived until she moved to California last year, Berrueto said. He said he knew little about Gough and saw him for the first time in wedding photos.

Military records show Gough enlisted in the Navy in May 2020 and was from Kansas. He was assigned to Port Hueneme in 2022. He started his career as a student in Great Lakes, Illinois at the Recruit Training Command.

Berrueto-Gough enlisted in the U.S. Navy in March 2022 but first reported to duty as a student with the in Great Lakes in December 2021, military records show.

On Saturday, when police officers got to the scene, other people who had been in the residence told officers there were still people inside, Port Hueneme police have said. SWAT teams from the Oxnard Police Department and the Ventura County Sheriff's Office helped them gain access.

The home is located just off Port Hueneme Road in the Portside community, across the street from Wene'mu Park.

A neighbor on Sunday said he believed multiple couples lived in the home, although he didn't know the people involved. He said he heard gunshots about an hour after someone had arrived Saturday afternoon and slammed a door.

This story may be updated.

Brian J. Varela covers Oxnard, Port Hueneme and Camarillo. He can be reached at brian.varela@vcstar.com or 805-477-8014. You can also find him on Twitter @BrianVarela805.

Gretchen Wenner is the breaking news and city editor at the Star. She can be reached at gretchen.wenner@vcstar.com.