A mother killed her one-year-old son before shooting herself dead in the Rocky Mountains National Park.
Tristen Watson, 24, died of a gunshot wound to the head last Friday after shooting herself and her 17-month-old son Christopher.
Her mother Christy Coakley said the tragedy in Colorado had brought ‘pain and heartbreak’ to the family.
Park rangers had been searching for the mother after they were warned of a possible suicide attempt on Friday afternoon and found an abandoned vehicle nearby.
But Tristen and Christopher were both dead by the time they were found, the National Park Service said.
Tristen Watson and her son Christopher (pictured together) died in Rocky Mountains National Park in Colorado last Friday
Tristen had announced she was pregnant last year and an online funeral notice says that three lives were lost.
The third victim was named as Aspen Ann Watson, apparently referring to the unborn child.
‘As many have heard by now, our sweet Tristen and Christopher are no longer with us,’ said Tristen’s mother, Christy Coakley.
‘There aren’t words to describe the pain and heartbreak our family is going through.’
She added: ‘The last words I said to my daughter was I love you.’
In a separate post on social media she said: ‘I wish I would’ve made her get help but we couldn’t force her because she was an adult and all the stupid rules.
‘I have so many questions that I’ll never get answers to. I just keep asking myself why?
‘She had so many people that loved her and would’ve done absolutely anything to help her.’
Tristen Watson (left) died of a gunshot wound to the head in Colorado after shooting herself and her 17-month-old son Christopher (pictured together right)
Derrick Watson, the husband of Tristen and father of Christopher, said three lives had been ‘taken far too soon’.
‘I have been trying to find the words, but I simply have no words for the pain that this family is going through right now,’ he said.
A family friend, Hailey Pearson, said: ‘I am so glad to have gotten the chance to meet the both of you and hang out on occasion.
‘Y’all are both beautiful on the inside and out. Christopher always lit up the room that he was in and I could tell Tristen absolutely loved being his momma. Rest easy you two.’
Another friend, Destany Reppel, said: ‘My heart truly breaks for their family. A family I consider my own, and have been so welcomed and loved by them all through the years.’
Tristen had announced her pregnancy last November, saying: ‘The Watson family is proud to announce that there will be another bundle of joy coming June 2020.’
Her second child was due to be a girl, she revealed at the time.
Rangers in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado had held up two entrances to the park (file photo) after they were warned of a possible suicide attempt on Friday afternoon
Rangers in Rocky Mountain National Park had been searching for the pair after they were notified about a suicidal person in the park on Friday.
They found Tristen’s car near Upper Beaver Meadows Road and held up two entrances to the park for around an hour while they searched for the 24-year-old.
But the search ended when Tristen and Christopher were found dead and the bodies turned over to the Larimer County coroner’s office.
The coroner’s office said both had died by a gunshot wound to the head, ruling the mother’s death as suicide and the child’s as homicide.
According to the website of a funeral home, Tristen’s friends and family are due to pay their respects at a memorial service in Louisiana on February 1.
The family has asked for donations in Tristen’s memory to be made to the National Alliance of Mental Illness in St Tammany, Louisiana.
Officials say they are not planning to release any further information.
For confidential support in the US call the National Suicide Prevention Line on 1-800-273-8255
For confidential support in the UK call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details.