The boyfriend of the Air Force servicewoman found dead alongside her two toddler sons on Saturday has been arrested for their horrific murders.
Shane Walker, 36, was charged on Sunday with murder, manslaughter, arson and criminal possession of a weapon for killing his girlfriend Alla Ausheva and their two sons Ivan Walker, two, and Elia Walker, three.
On Saturday Ausheva, a 37-year-old Russian-born US Air National Guard Airman 1st Class member, was found dead suffering severe trauma to her head and face in her Staten Island home. Her children’s bodies were found nearby and appeared to have been drowned.
Walker is also an active duty Air Force member and has a history of domestic violence against Ausheva and was arrested in December for assault.
Air Force serviceman Shane Walker, 36, has been charged with murder and manslaughter for the grisly killing of his Air Force girlfriend Alla Ausheva, 37, (left and right) and their two toddler sons. The mother and her children were found dead in their Staten Island home on Saturday
Ausheva’s supervisor discovered the door of Ausheva’s Staten Island home on Palisade Street near Lily Pond Avenue (above) wide open with smoke inside. The supervisor found Ausheva dead lying face-down on her bed and the bodies of her two sons, aged two and three, nearby
‘They had a prior domestic where he hit her,’ a high-ranking police source said to the New York Post. ‘He accused her of fooling around on him.’
In that incident, Ausheva had returned home from Dunkin Donuts when Walker accused her of cheating on him and attacked her.
Suspicion was first raised about Walker was found wandering the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway carrying Ausheva’s cell phone and military ID on Saturday morning, just a few hours before cops were called to the murder scene, cops said.
He had reportedly tried to commit suicide by jumping off the Verrazzano Bridge around 7.45am.
After Walker was found, he was transported to Maimonides Medical Center for a psychiatric evaluation and remains there, according to ABC.
On Sunday he was charged with 12 counts of murder, three counts of manslaughter, three counts of arson, three counts of criminal poss of a weapon.
Ausheva’s supervisor was the first to arrive to the horrific murder scene, finding the front door of the Palisade Street home wide open and inside a small burning fire and smoke. The supervisor found Ausheva’s body face-down on her bed. It’s not clear what weapon was used in her murder.
Ausheva and her sons were pronounced dead at 10.45am on Saturday. The FDNY extinguished the small fire int he home.
Ausheva was an active duty Air Force servicewoman based in Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn. She was Russian born and was naturalized in 2012 by Barack Obama. Videos online show her singing (above)
Ausheva was a respected airwoman who was sworn in as an American Citizen by Barack Obama at the White House seven years ago.
She came to the US in 2011 after her then-husband won a green-card lottery and joined the Army National Guard three months later before transferring to the Air National Guard afterwards.
She served in the Air Force full time and was stationed at Fort Hamilton Army Base in Brooklyn.
Footage shows her at a Military Naturalization Ceremony in 2012.
Speaking that year Ausheva said: ‘It was awesome. I met the president. He’s just awesome. I’m so happy.
She told The New York Post: ‘I always wanted to live here. This is really a country where you can pursue your dream and do what you want to do.’
She said her husband was surprised when she signed up for the New York Army National Guard, adding: ‘At first, he was surprised. Then, when I told him I would do it anyway because it was my dream, he was very supportive.’
In 2012 Obama told the new citizens, including Alla: ‘All of you did something profound: You chose to serve. You put on the uniform of a country that was not yet fully your own.’
Walker was discovered about to jump off the Verrazzano Bridge at 7.45am this morning
Walker was taken to hospital for a medical evaluation and is now in police custody after he was spotted walking on the Brooklyn Queens Expressway
The two and three-year-old toddlers appeared to have been drowned, though the official cause of death is yet to be released
Police said they responded before firefighters got to the scene to extinguish a small fire
Shane Walker was listed as living in the property with Ausheva.
One neighbor told Staten Island Live of him: ‘I haven’t seen him in a very long time. He was somewhere and recently came back.’
Neighbors say they’re shocked to hear of Walker’s arrest.
‘I’ve seen (the father) a few times, he seems like a nice guy,’ neighbor Rod Hamed said to ABC. ‘Nothing suspicious. A military guy, what would you expect.’
A medical examiner is determining the cause of death for each victim.
The US military has joined the investigation and personnel were at the scene.
The US military has joined the investigation and personnel were at the scene
The parents were both US Air Force members based in Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn, New York