Evelyn ‘Lily’ Garcia and her two children.Photo:GoFundMe
GoFundMe
Family, neighbors, and investigators are still searching for an answer to why a mother in California allegedly killed her two young children and then herself this week, leaving behind the children’s father.
Fremont, Calif., police say the “tragic” incident took place in the family’s apartment on the afternoon of June 5.
Shortly after 1 p.m. local time, officers arrived at the apartment to find the mother and her two children dead. A knife was found at the scene.
“Sadly, for unknown reasons, a one-year-old boy and a four-year-old girl lost their lives yesterday, and their mother is believed to have taken her own life,” the Fremont Police Department said ina statementearlier this month.Police identified the mother as Evelyn “Lily” Lemus Garcia and her children as 4-year-old Estefany Lemus and 1-year-old Emiliano Lemus this week.“This was one of the most difficult calls for service that Fremont has experienced in recent years and many of our officers and firefighters are experiencing their own sense of loss and sorrow,” Fremont Police Chief Sean Washington said. “As an organization, we will continue to thoroughly investigate this delicate case, while offering support and providing compassionate service.”
The family also launcheda GoFundMe pageasking for donations to help cover the family’s funeral expenses, saying family members are “suffering a horrible time” in the wake of the shocking murder-suicide.
“We do not know the motivation of Lily, of why she committed something as horrible as this,” the GoFundMe said, noting the family is from Guatemala. “We are confused. Sad. Wishing we could [have] done something. To not let her nor our children suffer, but we do not know. We are confused.”
“I heard about how young they were and the mom too. It’s just a terrible situation,” said neighbor Kevin Anderson, adding,. “It’s horrible. Those poor kids.”
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Police say they are still investigating the murder-suicide to find out why and how the mother and her two children died.
“Any kind of case like this, where you have young individuals involved, it’s traumatic for everybody,” Fremont Police Lt. Paul McCormick said, according toNBC Bay Area, adding, “We are keeping all of our options open as the investigation proceeds. We will release information as it becomes available once it’s appropriate.”
source: people.com
