Five children are left orphaned after both their parents died in a suspected murder-suicide on Christmas morning in Houston.
Harris County Sheriff’s deputies were called to an address on Down St. at about 1 a.m. on Christmas Day where they found a man and a woman dead in the front yard.
They named the deceased as 42-year-old Maria Gonzalez, who officials say suffered a blunt force blow to the head, and 45-year-old Arsenio Gonzalez, who died of a single bullet to the head.
Inside the house they found five children aged 7 to 16 years.
Murder-suicide update on Down Street: Spouses meet on front lawn. The husband has been identified as Arsenio Gonzalez (45) and his wife Maria Gonzalez (42). Wife had symptoms of blunt trauma and husband appears to have self-mutilated gunshots https://t.co/xSHd3jt5wr
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that the children were not injured and did not witness the deaths of their parents.
Officials say the husband and wife had attended a family function earlier in the evening and were beaten and shot when they returned home.
Investigators have recovered a pistol from the spot.
The children have been placed with Child Protective Services, and their family members are expected to be released.
“Right now, we’re in contact with the CPS and we’ll let them determine who they’ll be released to, probably family members,” Sergeant Greg Pinkins told Click2Houston.
“We’ll continue to do our investigation here and we’ll talk to family members who were probably at the party to see if we can get some background.”
Five Children Orphaned After Suspected Murder-suicide Of Parents On Christmas Morning
