Pa. Woman Allegedly Killed 2 Young Daughters and Their Dad Before Turning Gun on Herself
A Philadelphia mother is accused of killing her family before turning the gun on herself in an attempted murder-suicide.
On Monday evening, a family of four was shot in their home in Philadelphia’s Tacony neighborhood, according to a police department spokesperson. First responders arrived at the home at 10 p.m. and found 28-year-old Damyrra Jones lying outside on top of a gun while her two daughters, 10-month-old Damaya and Maxillie, 4, were found inside, along with their father, 38-year-old Max Alcindor.
They had been shot in the head.
The girls were alive and rushed to a local hospital, where they died, while Alcindor was pronounced dead at the scene.
Jones was hospitalized and remains in critical condition. On Tuesday, she was charged with three counts of murder.
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Police believe Jones shot and killed her daughters and their father before turning the gun on herself. Neighbors told NBC10 Alcindor was a school bus driver. (While police identified Jones’s daughter as Maxillie, friends have called her Maxilla.)
Jones’s sister told the station that her sister and Alcindor were married but he had recently left her. Neighbors gathered outside the family’s home, which had toys in the front yard.
“She was a very happy little girl, always skipping, playing and smiling,” neighbor Mary Munizza, whose grandchildren played with Maxillie, told the station through tears. “Just a very beautiful little girl.”
If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to http://www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text “home” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 or go to suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
