A Bay City, Texas father who had a record of domestic violence yesterday shot each of his four children, ages 2 – 5 in the head, then shot his wife three times before turning the gun on himself. All four children died, two at the scene, two at the hospital. The man’s wife lived, though she is hospitalized in critical condition. The father also died from his self-inflicted wounds.
Police say the man, Jose Avila, had a record of assault, most recently two days before Thanksgiving against his wife, Laura Gonzalez, but she had opted to not press charges, and instead fled with her children to a battered women’s shelter.
The AP adds:
The family had moved into the trailer home near Bay City’s Western-style downtown about a year ago, neighbors said. They appeared to live a quiet life. On occasion, next-door neighbor Isuro Perez heard them arguing, but it appeared to be nothing out-of-the-ordinary. Just a run-of-the-mill dispute between a married couple.
“He always plays soccer out here in this field out here, plays soccer with his kids,” Perez said, pointing to a grassy area opposite the row of trailer homes. “They were nice people, nothing went wrong really. They were a happy family.”
At work, though, Gonzalez portrayed a different picture. Alejandro Gonzalez said he once saw her with a black eye. And Ruby Gomez, a waitress at La Casona, said Laura Gonzalez had told her about problems she had with her husband.
“She had to leave to get the kids in the afternoon because he threatened her that if she left him he was going to kill the four kids and her,” Gomez said.
Once, Gomez said, Gonzalez told her Avila had locked her in the house and gone to work. She escaped through a window and went to a shelter, Gomez recounted. That was the second time she left him, and vowed not to go back.
The first time “he convinced her that he was going to change and that he really loved his kids, and convinced her to return to live with him,” Gomez said.