A four-year-old girl pretended to be asleep in her Missouri home when her father allegedly shot her mother and half-brother and then turned the gun on himself.
Katrina Banks, 31, was found dead along with her son Kevin Johnson, 15 inside their Bellfountaine Neighbors, Missouri, home about midnight Thursday.
A man, identified as Dornubari Dugbor, 31, was also found dead with a self inflicted gunshot wound.
Katrina Banks, 31, and her son Kevin Johnson, 15, were found dead inside their Bellfountaine Neighbors, Missouri, home on Thursday
Dornubari Dugbor, 31,and Banks were engaged to be married in January but he was also found dead with a self inflicted gunshot wound
He and Banks had been engaged and were planning to get married in January.
The young girl pretended to be sleep in her room during the shootings, Bellefountaine Neighbors Police Chief Jeremy Ihler said according to St. Louis Post Dispatch reports.
The police chief said the child heard the first shots and came into the living room, finding her mother on the floor.
Dugbor was said to have told her to go back to her room, which she did.
The young girl had been pretending to be sleep in her room during the shootings, Bellefountaine Neighbors Police Chief Jeremy Ihler said
‘She heard several shots fired after that,’ Ihler added.
Initially believed to be a triple homicide – based on bullet trajectory seemingly coming from the front door – Ihler asked for assistant from the Major Case Squad.
Dugbor was found dead bent over on the couch with his cellphone in hand while also having a 9mm semiautomatic pistol in his lap.
That helped lead authorities to believe that the deaths were the result of a murder-suicide.
The child had heard the first shots and came into the living room of this house on 1200 block of Hoyt Drive, finding her mother dead on the floor
Police claim a 911 call at 11.50pm on Thursday was made by the man on his cellphone.
Refusing to reveal his name, the man gave the police the address to the home and told them that they would find ‘three’ bodies inside, according to Ihler.
Police believe that once the call ended, Dugbor put the pistol under his chin and pulled the trigger, killing himself.
Neighbors reported seeing the little girl playing outside and was aware that the man sometimes stayed there
Banks lived at the home, located on 1200 block of Hoyt Drive with Johnson.
Neighbors reported seeing the little girl at the home occasionally playing outside and was aware that the man sometimes stayed there.
And while Dugbor and Banks both were parents to the girl, custody arrangements were unsure of, Ihler said.
While the man did live at the house, he also had a home in St. Louis city.
The little girl is currently being evaluated at a hospital and will be turned over to relatives
A motive is unknown.
Mental health issues weren’t previously reported and no disputes had been reported between the couple.
The little girl is currently being evaluated at a hospital and will be turned over to relatives.
Police believe that Banks was shot in the living room and that her son was shot after he came to see what the commotion was.
He made it to the hallway before succumbing to his wounds and dying, Ihler added.