4 Dead in Houston Murder-Suicide, Including Two Children and Pregnant Mother

HOUSTON, Texas — Police are investigating a suspected murder-suicide after four family members—including a pregnant mother, a father, and two young children—were found dead inside a home in the city’s affluent River Oaks area.

Officers responded to the scene near the intersection of Avalon Place and Kingston Street just before 5:30 p.m. Monday, after a babysitter and a sister of one of the residents expressed concern that they had not heard from the family since Sunday evening.

Houston police have confirmed four people were found dead at the scene: a father, a pregnant mother, and two children, ages four and eight. The children were discovered in their beds.

A family member had dinner with the mother on Sunday night. Police say no one had heard from any of the victims since that time. When authorities made entry into the residence—no civilians had entered beforehand—they found the bodies.

“It does appear it’s a family,” a Houston police spokesperson told reporters at the scene. “At this point, we believe it’s a murder-suicide.”

The spokesperson declined to release the identities of the victims, confirm which family member was believed to be the shooter, or state whether a weapon had been recovered, citing the early stage of the investigation.

Authorities said the River Oaks area is typically very safe, and that the nature of the incident was deeply unsettling for responding officers.

“Extremely difficult. We’re humans, too,” the spokesperson said when asked about the emotional toll on first responders. “Especially whenever we have this situation where there’s a family and small people, families involved. It’s just terrible. We don’t like to see this at all.”

Police continue to investigate the exact timeline of the deaths, which occurred sometime between Sunday night and Monday’s 5:26 p.m. call. No neighbors have yet been identified who heard gunshots.

The investigation remains ongoing.