Niece Of Murdered Salon Owner Speaks Out

SEAL BEACH (CBS) — For the first time, we are hearing from the family of slain salon owner Randy Fannin.

He was killed, along with seven others, during the rampage Wednesday at Salon Meritage in Seal Beach. Suspect Scott Dekraai allegedly targeted his ex-wife, a stylist at the salon.

KCAL9's Kara Finnstrom spoke with Tami Scarcella, Fannin's niece, about what his loss means to her family.

"On the front of the building, someone put a picture of  Randy and Sandy (his widow) and wrote  'Your love always inspired us. And it just touched my heart, because it's true. Their love inspired all of us."

Fannin and his wife opened the salon more than a decade ago. It was their dream to own the salon, reports Finnstrom, and everyone who worked for them, was like a second family.

Fannin's neice also revealed new and chilling details about what happened inside the salon.

Fannin stepped up heroically and tried talking to the alleged gunman and pleading with  him to stop. To protect them all.

Choking back tears, Scarcella says, "[Sandy] happened to be in the back, mixing some color -- and she could hear the chaos. And she heard Randy. He was asking Scott to stop and think of a different way. That they could talk about this...and find a different way to do this. And...obviously Scott was not in a place to hear anything."

She said Sandy is heartbroken to say the least. "There are no words that can measure the amount of pain she is going through right now."

Scarcella reports that Sandy is taking some small comfort with the growing memorial to her husband and the other victims outside the salon. She is also making funeral plans for the man with whom she planned to retire soon.

Through their grief, Sandy's family is also raising money to support the families of the other victims.