3 dead in apparent murder-suicide

Police investigating Marion homicide

ralphhardin@gmail.com A domestic violence call turned into a homicide investigation Tuesday morning as a family of three was found dead in their home.

Initial reports are that the three were killed in a murder- suicide. Marion police officers were dispatched for a welfare check at Bayou Vista Drive around 9:30 a.m. Upon entering the home, the bodies were discovered.

Officers on the scene spoke to two juveniles who said they heard gunshots coming from inside the house.

The deceased have been identified as Gabriel Brown, Nakina Gilmer-Brown, and the couple’s 7year-old child Austin dead.

According to family members, two other children were able to escape before the violence.

After an intial examination of the scene, police are treating the case as a murder- suicide scenario One family member, Charles Gilmer, the uncle of one of the victims, told Memphis news reporters that the woman and her child were shot and killed by her husband, who then

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Photo courtesy of Cassandra Gilmer MURDER-SUICIDE (cont.)

turned the gun on himself.

“It’s devastating news.

Something we can’t really fathom. We’re still trying to wrap our heads around it. Just don’t understand why,” he said.

Another family member, Cassandra Gilmer, took to Facebook to ask for prayers and understanding following

She aired her anguish, saying, “6:27 a.m., I got a text saying ‘I love u.’ 8:28 I got a call saying ‘go to your sister’s house.’ I busted a u-turn and went and got my gun. I had enough of my family living in fear. My plan was to get them out of that house alive! I called CPS. I went to the schools.

I went by the jail and told them folks go protect my family.”

While at the Marion Police Department, Gilmer said she heard the harrowing call over the police radio.

“And over the speaker I hear ‘two shots fired!’” Gilmer said she had previously warned Marion police about the potential danger her sister and nephew were in.

“I repeatedly told them he was about kill all of them!” she said. “I kicked screamed and hollered.

They didn’t take me seriously. Now my sister and Austin are gone. On his 7th birthday. Why?”

She closed her post with words of caution.

“I told my sister he was gonna kill them. Drugs are real, y’all. Domestic violence is real. If you are living in fear, find a way out! I always felt like I’d fight her battles… Lord knows I tried to do this mess the right way. Now they’re gone. This ain’t right. Lord I tried.”

The investigation is still ongoing as of Wednesday afternoon.