Boy, 6, Who Was ‘Constantly Smiling’ Is Killed by Grandfather in Murder-Suicide: ‘It’s Just, Why?’

A 6-year-old Tennessee boy and his grandmother were killed by his grandfather in a shocking double murder-suicide over the weekend, say police.

On Saturday at about 7 p.m., Terry Majors, 64, of the Nashville neighborhood of Hermitage, shot and killed his wife, Leigh Shea Majors, 61, and their grandson, Ty Dodson, before killing himself, the Metro Nashville Police Department said in a statement on Twitter.

Majors’ 4-year-old granddaughter was able to escape and ran to a neighbor’s house for help, Metro Nashville Police said.

The children’s uncle, Chase Dodson, told local station WKRN he believes Ty told his little sister to flee for her life.

Ty and his sister were visiting their grandparents, who occasionally helped their Kentucky-based mother take care of them on weekends, Dodson said, WKRN reports.

The children’s father died before Ty was born, Dodson told the outlet.

Family and friends are asking why Majors would kill his wife and grandson.

Calling Majors a “very great guy,” neighbor Chely Wilson told WKRN that he “used to mow the yard — neighbors’ yards and things. Helped neighbors out. His wife was a very good person. I’m just as dumbfounded as everybody else as to why something like this had happened. I know that they loved their grandkids very, very much.”

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Ty, who was known for his big smile, made an impression on everyone who knew him in his short life. Known as “Ty the Science Guy” because he loved the science center at his preschool, the boy was “very smart, very curious,” Tabitha Collins, Ty’s former pre-school teacher at Allen County Primary Center, told WKRN.

He always looked out for his little sister, she said.

“He has a little sister that’s in preschool this year, he walks in and just makes sure that she would get to school and the classroom okay,” Collins told the outlet.

“I can’t describe how much I love Ty,” she said. “I still just don’t want to believe he’s gone. It’s just, ‘Why?’ He’s so young.”

On a Facebook page Dodson created to collect donations to help with funeral expenses, he wrote, “My nephew Ty Dodson was visiting his grandparents on his mom’s side this past Saturday night in Tennessee. This visit went extremely wrong and the step-grandad murdered his wife, my nephew, and then cowardly turned the gun on himself.”

“This was a shock to both sides of Ty’s family. I am trying to raise money on Ty’s behalf [for] the funeral because he was only six years old & [had] no life insurance policies. The rest of the money will be donated to a charity for families that don’t have the money for a proper funeral for loved ones. Any amount donated will be greatly appreciated as we lay our sweet boy to rest.”

Police have not released any more details and are investigating a possible motive.