A Texas couple and their two children were found dead in their home in an apparent murder-suicide – three weeks after the family’s 4-year-old daughter drowned in a swimming pool.
Police in Allen, a city about 30 miles north of Dallas, responded to a welfare call Monday at a home on Aberdeen Drive, where a locked-out resident said the family didn’t answer the door, the Dallas Morning News reported.
“After other family members arrived at the house, police gained access and found four people dead,” two adults and two children, police said, according to NBC News.
The couple were identified as Farman and Layla Sherwani and their sons, Mateen, 2, and Shaheen, 12.
Police said the deaths were the result of an apparent triple murder-suicide but have not released information about who caused them and how.
The tragedy comes three weeks after the family’s 4-year-old daughter, Lyian, drowned in a swimming pool, the Dallas paper reported.
Police Sgt. Jonathan Maness told the outlet that Lyian’s drowning — details of which were unavailable — was a factor in the family’s deaths.
On Tuesday evening, the Islamic Association of Allen hosted a funeral for the family, who were members of the congregation.
“This is definitely news that no one is ready to wake up to hear, let alone the family members, but even for the congregation members who perhaps didn’t even know them,” the mosque’s Imam Abdul Rahman Bashir told KDFW.
“From what my understanding is they were a close-knit family. Few siblings lived on the same street within walking distance of each other,” he said, adding that the family had been struggling after losing Lyian.
“In this type of situation, it’s not easy for any family. In spite of having many family members here, they were really broken,” Bashir told the outlet.
David Hicks, a spokesperson for the city’s school district, confirmed that one of the victims was a fifth-grader at Olson Elementary School, the Morning News reported.
“We are all shocked and saddened by this news,” Principal Susanne Miller wrote parents in a letter. “I ask that you please keep the family and loved ones in your thoughts over the coming days and months.”
Jacqueline Soto, a neighbor of the late family, told KDFW that the relative who had been locked out for about two hours was a grandmother.
“She was just really distraught,” Soto said about the woman’s behavior before other relatives arrived. “Just trying to, I guess, control the grandmother who was incredibly upset.”
Bashir, the imam, said the community also experienced the loss of another family to a murder-suicide two years ago. Six people died in that case.
“Obviously, it’s something that really punches the gut of the entire community, especially since we experienced something like this not too long ago,” he told KDFW.
“This is a message I’ve been telling the congregation for a while now. If there is something that is bothering you, please reach out to someone,” Bashir added.
He said his group has partnered with the Muslim Association for Psychological Services and that mental health professionals would be available for anyone who needed help to cope with the tragedy.
