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A North Carolina family visited their local sheriff’s office hours before deputies believe the father shot and killed his girlfriend and their two kids, and then set the family home on fire before turning the gun on himself.
On Monday, the Davie County Sheriff’s Office responded to a house fire in Davie County, N.C., where a family of four was found dead, according to investigators.
Police determined that Aschod Ewing-Meeks and his girlfriend, Ashton Brown, both 26, along with their two children, Bella Ewing-Meeks, 4, and 8-month-old Brixtyn Ewing-Meeks, had actually come to the sheriff’s office just two hours before they were found dead.
Just after 12 p.m. on April 18, Aschod and the family walked into the sheriff’s office and spoke with the receptionist, Davie County Sheriff JD Hartman said during a Wednesday press conference.
Hartman said they were very “vague” with what they wanted to discuss, but that they “just wanted to talk to an officer.” The receptionist reportedly gave the family a phone number to contact the department and they left. The visit lasted four minutes.
“There was nothing out of the ordinary. They really wouldn’t interact with the receptionist or tell her what they wanted,” Hartman said.
Then, at 12:35 p.m. local time, Hartman said Brown called dispatch and wanted to speak to an officer. Hartman said Brown “had some safety concerns” but otherwise wouldn’t say what she wanted.
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“He advised with the officer that he thought that someone was following him, but he wasn’t in danger, they weren’t threatening him,” said Hartman. “The officer attempted to get them to come back to the sheriff’s office. They were driving around; they wouldn’t tell the officer where they were.”
Then, at 1:06 p.m., the calls started going to voicemail.
“All four victims are deceased from gunshot wounds,” Hartman told reporters. “The fire was intentionally set. Mr. Meeks was deceased from a self-inflicted gunshot wound and we found the gun that matches all of this actually still in Mr. Meeks' hand.”
source: people.com
