From staff and wire reports

SABATTUS – In a written statement Wednesday, the family of Melissa Mendoza expressed grief over the woman who was slain early Monday. In a live interview, they were more adamant about their frustrations.

“My niece lived in fear. She lived in terror,” said Mac Garcia, the 29-year-old shooting victim’s uncle, from his home in Lodi, Calif. “My thought is that the person responsible for her death should be in custody. He should be in jail, not out on the streets.”

Mendoza was shot in the head early Monday as she walked into a house on Roberts Road in Sabattus. Her boyfriend, 35-year-old Daniel Roberts, said he shot Mendoza because she had threatened to harm their 2-year-old daughter Savanna, who was inside the house.

On Tuesday, the Department of Human Services placed the girl in temporary care while the police investigation continues.

An autopsy showed Mendoza died of a single gunshot wound to the head. The shooting remained under investigation by Maine State Police, and no charges have been filed.

“They only tell us so much,” Garcia said after a conversation with investigators. “It’s frustrating. We want to get justice served.”

Roberts told police that Mendoza went to his home with a gun after weeks of custody battles over their daughter. Her family discounted that idea and insisted Mendoza was not violent.

According to Roberts’ lawyer, Lenny Sharon, however, no new evidence has surfaced to discredit Roberts’ account of the shooting.

“I feel really sorry for the Mendoza family,” Sharon said. “It’s obviously a big loss. But the fact is, I’m sure they just don’t know a lot about what went on after Melissa left California.”

Mendoza had two other children, an 8-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son. They were in California when their mother was killed.

Mendoza’s family said Wednesday that police knew Roberts to be violent even before the shooting. Melissa wrote in her applications for protection orders that Roberts is a member of the Hell’s Angels motorcycle club and that he had threatened her in the past.

“This really has nothing to do with the Hell’s Angels, period,” Sharon said.

The lawyer pointed out that Mendoza drove to Roberts’ house on her own after calling the residence several times Sunday night. He added that Roberts called for help immediately after the shooting and that he submitted to questioning.

“The police have been doing a great job,” Sharon said. “Whatever conclusions they reach, the investigation has been very thorough.”

Mendoza’s lawyer, Bob Guillory, said Sharon’s version of the events leaves a number of questions unanswered.

Guillory said Mendoza was afraid of Roberts and had recently filed for a protection-from-abuse order against him, alleging he had threatened her. Mendoza was about to get custody of the couple’s daughter for six months, he said.

Guillory said there was no reason for Mendoza to go to Roberts’ house “because all she had to do was wait it out for another three weeks, four weeks, then she’d have six months of, hopefully, peace and having the child all to herself.”

Maine State Police have declined to comment on Sharon’s assertion that Roberts shot Mendoza to protect their child.

In California, Mendoza’s family made themselves available to the press on Wednesday as they continued to criticize the police investigation of the shooting.

“We want people to know she was a human being,” said Melissa’s cousin, Stephanie Mireles. “She didn’t deserve to die like she did.”

Mendoza had filed four requests for protection-from-abuse orders against Roberts, but the first three applications were either withdrawn by her or dismissed because she did not appear for a hearing. The fourth application was scheduled for a hearing Aug. 26. A temporary protection order had been in effect since Aug. 9.

At the time of her death, Mendoza was trying to dissolve a custody arrangement in which each parent had their child for six months of the year.

“She loved her kids and she wanted to be with them,” Garcia said. “That’s why she wanted to fight for custody of her 2-year-old child.”

Sharon did not want to speculate on whether the state might file charges against Roberts later. He said his client would continue to cooperate as the investigation continues.

“Whatever happens here, a young girl will grow up without her mother,” Sharon said. “That’s sad. That’s just tragic.”