A Tacony mother allegedly killed her husband and two young children Monday night before shooting herself, authorities said.
Damyrra Jones, 28, bought a handgun earlier in the day and proceeded to open fire on her 35-year-old husband, 4-year-old daughter and 10-month-old daughter on the first floor of their home at 6318 Hegerman St., police said.
Officers responded to the house after neighbors reported hearing gunshots just before 10 p.m. All three victims were found inside with gunshot wounds to the head and neck area.
“When police arrived on location, Ms. Jones was lying face down with the firearm still in her hand,” Homicide Captain Jason Smith said in a news conference Tuesday.
“While being transported to Jefferson Torresdale Hospital in the back of a fire rescue unit, she admitted to shooting everyone and demanded not to be resuscitated,” he added.
Jones’ husband was pronounced dead at the scene. Officers rushed the children to St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, blocking intersections along the way, but both died at the hospital.
Acting Police Commissioner Christine Coulter described the scene as “tragic.”
“It’s never easy seeing a child with a gunshot wound,” she said Monday night.
Police have not released the names of the victims, pending notification of the man’s family.
Jones, who had a self-inflicted gunshot wound to her head, remains in the hospital but is expected to recover, Smith said.
She is being treated as a prisoner, and Smith said authorities intend to charge with her three counts of murder and other crimes.
Police said Jones legally purchased a 9mm Ruger handgun from Delia’s Gun Shop, 6104 Torresdale Ave., in the hours before the suspected murder-suicide attempt. Officers recovered four shell casings and a projectile at the scene, along with the firearm.
Investigators said the couple may have been separated or in the process of separating. Smith said he did not believe the father was living at the Hegerman Street house.
“There was domestic discord,” he said. “I believe that it involved child support payments that he was supposed to be making to her.”
Smith declined to comment when asked whether police knew why the husband was at the house on Monday. It’s unclear if police have responded to the property in the past for domestic disturbances. ••
Jack Tomczuk can be reached at [email protected]
