Fresno native went camping with daughters and was killed. DA files murder charge

A man who was apparently homeless has been charged with murder in the shocking death of Tristan Beaudette, a former Edison High valedictorian shot and killed last summer while camping with his two young daughters at Malibu Creek State Park near Calabasas.

The slaying occurred June 22 but it wasn’t until Oct. 10 that Anthony Rauda, 42, was arrested in the wooded area of the park for a series of burglaries, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said.

Charges in the death of Beaudette were filed Monday. Rauda had no known residency, the sheriff’s office said.

After investigators reviewed multiple shooting incidents, armed burglaries and assaults in a series of crimes going back to November 2016, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has also charged Rauda with 10 counts of attempted murder and five counts of second-degree burglary

At the time, investigators told local media Beaudette was shot in a tent while sleeping next to his two daughters, ages 2 and 4. The children were not hurt in the shooting.

Beaudette and his daughters had gone camping to give his wife, a doctor, a quiet night to herself so she could study for an exam, according to news reports.

Beaudette, a native of Fresno, was 35 when he was killed. He was a valedictorian in the Edison High class of 2000.

He was married to his high school sweetheart, his family said. They lived in Irvine. He was a scientist who worked for a pharmaceutical company.

“We are heartbroken by the loss of our beloved friend, husband, and father, Tristan Beaudette, whose life was tragically cut short by a senseless act of gun violence while on a camping trip with his two young daughters,” a statement in June from the family said. “The grief and trauma this loss has caused our close-knit family is indescribable.

“Tristan was universally admired by his friends and family.”

This story was originally published January 7, 2019 at 1:51 PM.