Man Sought in Slaying of Former Girlfriend : Crime: Police say the suspect, who was under court order to stay away from the victim, was seen running from her Orange apartment shortly after she was shot dead while her two children slept.

ORANGE — A woman who had a court order to keep her ex-boyfriend away was shot to death Sunday night as her daughters slept, and police are looking for the boyfriend.

Police said Maria DelMarie Alcocer, 25, suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the upper torso and was pronounced dead in the apartment in the 3800 block of Garden Grove Boulevard.

Authorities on Monday were seeking James Allen Booker, Alcocer’s former boyfriend, who was reported seen running from the apartment shortly after shots were fired.

The 27-year-old laborer and bodybuilder took a cross-country bus from Detroit late last week to win back the woman with whom he had lived off and on for four years before their break-up in August, according to police.

After the split, Alcocer obtained a restraining order to keep Booker away and tried to persuade him to turn back during several telephone calls he made while traveling from Detroit, police said.

“He was jilted,” said Lt. Timm Browne, a spokesman for the Orange Police Department. “After the dispute in August, he left. She got a restraining order. . . . She didn’t want him back in the residence.”

Booker was arrested in Orange last year on suspicion of abusing Alcocer, Browne said. Booker also was charged in Santa Ana in 1992 with attacking Alcocer’s father with a deadly weapon, a misdemeanor, authorities said.

The 1992 incident began with an argument between Booker and Maria Alcocer as they watched television at her father’s house in Santa Ana, according to Santa Ana Police Lt. Robert Helton. Booker left the house but returned 30 minutes later, demanding that Maria Alcocer leave with him, Helton said. Luis Alcocer intervened, grabbing a fireplace shovel, but Booker took it away and struck him in the side of the head, Helton said. Booker was arrested four months later on a warrant, Helton said. Helton did not know how the case was decided.

Alcocer obtained the court order after the two broke up, Browne said. Booker subsequently moved to Detroit but got on a bus last Thursday in hopes of reconciling, Browne said. Booker called Alcocer along the way, and she tried to talk him out of returning, Browne said.

“She kept telling him, ‘Don’t bother,’ ” Browne said.

Alcocer was on the telephone with a friend about 11 p.m. Sunday night when someone removed a screen and climbed into the first-floor apartment through a window, Browne said. Neighbors called to report gunfire and witnesses said they recognized Booker running away, Browne said.

Alcocer’s 4- and 6-year-old daughters, who are not related to Booker, were asleep in another room during the shooting and did not wake up. They were carried sleeping to a neighbor’s apartment where relatives came for them, Brown said.

Residents at the 104-unit Park City Apartments were shaken by the incident.

“She was a very nice person and took good care of her children,” said a next-door neighbor, who asked that her name not be used. The neighbor said the couple had moved in about a year ago and seemed to get along well.

“They always seemed pleasant. He always took the children anywhere he went. He seemed very nice,” said the neighbor.