Make California Post a Preferred Source San Francisco’s former deputy police chief was looking forward to a fresh start after deciding to divorce her husband — just two weeks before he shot her and their daughter dead in their California home, a close friend has told the California Post.
Ann Mannix, 65, and her daughter Katie, 24, were killed by retired police sergeant Kevin Mannix, 68, at their Marin County home Sunday night before he turned the gun on himself.
Ann’s friend, local attorney Marie Hurabiell, said he was at a party with her just two weeks ago and she was aglow following her split from Kevin.
“She was in a great place, she did tell me she was getting divorced, and it was the best thing and she was looking forward to the future,” Hurabiell told The Post.
She said she didn’t know her husband well, but knew the relationship had been in a bad place for awhile. She claimed Kevin was a possessive ex who did not want her to move on.
“She told me, as she was getting divorced, that she was so happy.”
Hurabiell remembered her friend as “warm, funny” and a “phenomenal” leader who volunteered her time to public safety causes since retiring from SFPD in 2021, educating the community on police work.
The ex-cop, who was one of relatively few women when she joined the force in the 1980s, was renowned as a “trailblazer” for women in the department, the police union boss said in a statement.
It’s not the only tragedy to hit SFPD in recent years. 40-year-old officer Chris Morris died by suicide in his home in 2022 while under criminal investigation, and another officer, Rene Vig Nielsen, likewise took his life in 2024.
“This is heartbreaking news. Suicide, in all its devastating forms, has tragically become woven into the fabric of SFPD,” one former SF cop told The Post.
Retired San Francisco police captain Alexa O’Brien, who worked alongside both Ann and Kevin, said Kevin was so quiet and mild-mannered that she never could have imagined him committing such violence.
“He was very, I don’t know how to say it, but vanilla,” O’Brien said. “They were an interesting couple. She had to be like six inches taller than him, and he was little.
“If anybody was to look at a tough person, you’d look at Ann as the tough one. That’s just how I viewed them.”
O’Brien said Kevin’s reserved personality stood in stark contrast to his wife’s commanding presence as she climbed the ranks of the San Francisco Police Department.
“He’s not a Type A personality kind of guy,” O’Brien said. “When he would talk to us police officers, or if I took a class and he spoke in the class, there wasn’t anything that would strike me or give me any indication he would ever do this.”
“He had a good, easy temperament,” she added. Ann’s childhood friend was equally stunned by the killings. “I can’t imagine having that happen or doing that. So it caught me by surprise,” she said.
The two women had been inseparable since they were five years old, growing up across the street from each other in San Francisco’s Richmond District.
“We were best friends. We were playmates. We learned everything together,” the friend recalled.
Their friendship endured for more than six decades, even after they moved to different states. They spoke about twice a week, and Ann last visited her over the summer.
“We went to dinner. We have a pool, so we swam. We just hung out and just kind of spent time together,” she said.
She remembered Ann as a caring, intelligent and strong woman with a sharp sense of humor and an athletic streak that had been evident since childhood.
“She was super athletic. She always did everything better than me growing up. She was funny, you know. She was very civic-minded,” the friend said.
Above all, she remembered Ann as a devoted mother who had been looking forward to becoming a grandmother.
“She was a wonderful mother. She had high hopes of being a grandmother soon,” the friend said. “You know, she was a friend to everybody.”
Katie, who was also killed in the shooting, was studying to become a nurse and shared her mother’s passion for helping others.
“Katie was fun, silly, the life of the party,” the friend recalled.
Ann had spent much of her retirement educating community members about police work and remained deeply involved in civic affairs.
She was also remembered as a trailblazer for women in law enforcement, having joined the San Francisco Police Department in the 1980s, when relatively few women served on the force.
She became the first woman to join the department’s SWAT team and later the first woman to lead it.
Ann rose to deputy chief of the Field Operations Bureau in 2018 and took charge of the Special Operations Bureau the following year, according to department records.
Kevin, meanwhile, retired from the department in June 2018 after 27 years of service.
In a farewell letter published by Taraval Station the following month, he reflected on the friendships he had developed throughout his career and his plans to spend more time with family and friends.
“I leave the SFPD, but I am taking your friendships with me forever,” he wrote.
The deadly shooting unfolded Sunday evening at the family’s home on Strawberry Circle in Strawberry, an affluent unincorporated community east of Mill Valley.
Marin County sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the residence after receiving a report of gunfire at 5:03 p.m., according to the sheriff’s office.
Deputies arrived within minutes and contacted the caller, who had safely escaped the home. After securing the perimeter, authorities entered the residence and discovered three people dead inside.
Detectives continued investigating the scene Sunday night. “There is no known threat to the community,” the sheriff’s office said.
San Francisco Police Chief Derrick Lew notified department personnel of the deaths Sunday night, writing that he was sharing the devastating news “with heavy hearts.”
“Please keep their family in your prayers. BSU is available to all members who may need it during this difficult time,” Lew wrote, referring to the department’s behavioral science unit.
The San Francisco Police Officers Association also mourned the family’s deaths.
“The tragic loss of retired Deputy Chief Ann Mannix, her daughter Katie, and retired Sergeant Kevin Mannix in a suspected murder-suicide has left our entire SFPD family reeling,” the union said in a statement.
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said: “I am deeply saddened by the tragic deaths of retired SFPD Deputy Chief Ann Mannix and her daughter, Katie.
“Deputy Chief Mannix dedicated decades of her life to serving San Francisco. She was a trailblazer in the police department, becoming the first woman to join and lead the SWAT team and rising to lead both the Field Operations and Special Operations Bureaus.”
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