Authorities in Illinois have confirmed that last month’s deaths of a mother, father, and their 1- and 6-year-old children were the result of a murder-suicide carried out by the father.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Brandyn Lee, 34, fatally shot his girlfriend, Jaquelon Gaskin, 28, their daughter, Gianna Lee, 6, and son, Giovanni Lee, 1, before killing himself at their Joliet home Wednesday night. Will County coroner’s office said autopsies performed Friday revealed that all four died from a single gunshot wound.
Providing a possible motive, Gaskin’s mother told WBBM that her daughter was planning to break up with Lee, her longtime boyfriend.
“He was like a controlling type of guy, and I think she was trying to break away from that, and I think that was the trigger, because otherwise why would you? That was his last bit of control, was to take everybody away, not just himself,” Rusha Brooks said.
Citing police, the Sun-Times reported that no domestic calls were made to the residence.
“These are the worst types of calls that officers can respond to. Anytime a person is killed, it’s a heartbreaking situation, but when children are killed, it’s incomprehensible,” Joliet police Chief Al Roechner said in an email to The Herald-News.
“It is something that I will never understand. My heart goes out to the family of the victims.”
[Featured image: Jaquelon Gaskin/Facebook; Giovanni and Gianna Lee/WBBM]
