By Daniel Yee for Associated Press tinyurl.com/a39w5
A New Orleans couple who had been chased from their home by Hurricane
Katrina died in an apparent murder-suicide, leaving behind an infant and a
severely injured 4-year-old boy.
Police entered the couple's rented home in the Atlanta suburb of
Austell early Wednesday after a call from a relative in New Orleans.
The woman "said that her nephew had called her and stated that he had
an argument with his wife and that she was hurt pretty bad, and in fact she
was dead," said police Chief Bob Starrett.
Police Lt. Gordon Firth said they found the woman dead in the living
room, and her injured son strapped in a nearby high chair.
A SWAT team found Jerome Spears, 28, in a back bedroom, dead of what
appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot, Starrett said.
Starrett initially said the boy had been beaten so severely that both
of his eyes were shut, but authorities later said he might have been shot.
The boy, who Firth said is autistic, underwent surgery Wednesday morning at
Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.
A 5-month old girl was uninjured, Starrett said.
Both children were to be turned over to the Department of Family and
Children's Services.
Firth said the unmarried couple had lived in the rented house for
about two months and police had no record of prior calls to that address. A
string of Christmas lights still decorated the front porch Wednesday
morning.
"The tragic thing is this 4-year-old boy most likely saw his mother
killed and was (injured) and tied up right there where his mother was lying
in a pool of blood," Starrett said. "It's as bad as it could get."
The names of the 24-year-old woman and the children were not
immediately released. Starrett said authorities were having difficulty
finding the couple's relatives because so many Louisiana residents scattered
after the hurricane.