2 Toddlers, 2 Adults Found Dead in Washington Home: ‘Homicidal Violence’ Blamed

Jack Phillips
6/29/2018
Updated:
6/29/2018

Police in Washington state said that two toddlers and two adults were found dead in a Lakewood home.

Lakewood Police said they found the bodies of a 36-year-old woman and a 26-year-old man as well as their two young girls when they went to the apartment on Wednesday evening, The Associated Press reported. They performed a welfare check, finding the scene.

A relative of the woman as well as a Child Protective Services worker requested that police perform the welfare check. A CPS worker told KOMO News that the family missed a scheduled appointment that day.

Officials said the bodies were in the apartment for at least one week before the officers found them, AP reported.

According to KOMO News, the case appears to be a murder-suicide.

“This appears to be a tragic case of family violence involving a possible murder-suicide scenario,” Lt. Chris Lawler of the Lakewood police said.

The children, he added, appeared to have died from “homicidal violence.” But it’s not clear what role each parent played.

Officials are waiting for an autopsy from the Pierce County Medical Examiner as well as more investigative work to determine what happened.

Detectives told KOMO that there’s no indication that other people were involved in the deaths.

Lawler said that police haven’t responded to the home in the past, but he noted that the husband might have had possible mental health problems.

Kay Elizabeth Bartlett, 56, who lives nearby, said that nothing appeared unusual.

“I don’t understand what could be so bad that somebody felt that they had to end their family, their legacy, their hope—and the hopes of their relatives,” she told The News Tribune.

“My neighbor walked over, sobbing in tears,” she added to Q13 Fox. “She said he bludgeoned those babies.”

“It was just so sad to see that someone felt the need to destroy their family and themselves,” said Bartlett.

Neighbors said the family was relatively new to the area.

“What would pose someone to feel that they had to end their whole family’s life, their legacy?” asked Bartlett. “Their legacy, what happened to that legacy?”

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Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter with 15 years experience who started as a local New York City reporter. Having joined The Epoch Times' news team in 2009, Jack was born and raised near Modesto in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
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