A Texas father killed himself with a gunshot to the head but before doing that, he killed his wife and his daughter first. The child was only eight years old and the motive of the father in the murder-suicide remained unclear.
The father was identified as 46-year-old Jefferson Stovall while his wife was identified as 43-year-old Penny Stovall. The daughter was named MaKenzie, People reported. Authorities discovered the crime scene after officials did a welfare check on their home. Authorities received a call from family members saying they were not able to reach the couple in the last 24 hours.
The call was made last Thursday at around 2:20 p.m. Officers were then deployed at the Corsicana, Texas home later. Initially, they thought there was a medical emergency but when they went inside the home, they found the dead bodies and concluded it was a murder-suicide, Comic Book reported.
At the crime scene, a .44 magnum rifle was found. The motive for the killing was unclear as the police did not elaborate on a possible cause. Sheriff Almer Tanner also said it was obvious Jefferson was responsible for the deaths of his wife and daughter but did not explain why they believed that.
In the past, there have been no recorded reports of criminal incidents or family violence. Alcohol was also found at the scene but police are yet to determine if it was a contributing factor.
Tanner added in a statement, "Any time you're dealing with the needless loss of life, especially a child of 8 years of age, [an] innocent 8-year-old, it's a traumatic experience for the community." He asked people to keep the officers handling the case in the people's prayers as they are having a troubling and difficult time investigating the matter.
The eight-year-old was a second grader at Mildren Elementary School. The school said in a statement they are devastated to learn about the loss of the child. Counselors at the school will be available to cater to the students and staff.
Late last year, a father, also from Texas killed his own daughter due to jealousy. He got back at the mother of his child by killing their four-year-old girl. Check the video below for more information on this matter.
