Three young siblings from Georgia were killed in a suspected murder-suicide after their mother’s ex took them to get food while she was in the hospital with their brother.
Gwinnett County police identified the deceased as 13-year-old Arianny Rodriguez, 11-year-old Chadal Rodriguez and 9-year-old Carlos Rodriguez. The children were found dead Wednesday in a car next to 56-year-old Jose Plasencia.
Plasencia and the children’s mother, Karina Rodriguez, share another child, who was hospitalized earlier that week.
“The suspect met with the victims’ mother, her three children and the child they shared at a local hospital,” police said.
“After some time, the mother agreed to let the three children join the suspect for a bite to eat while she remained at the hospital.”
Police have identified the three children found dead in a car in Atlanta as 9-year-old Carlos Rodriguez (left), 11-year-old Chadal Rodriguez (center) and 13-year-old Arianny Rodriguez (right).
The children were found next to Jose Plasencia, 56, who shared another child with the siblings’ mother, Karina Rodriguez.
The siblings went with Plasencia to get food while their mother was in the hospital with her other child. Their bodies were found Wednesday morning
Investigators believe the deaths are the result of a murder-suicide but are awaiting confirmation from the medical examiner’s office.
Plasencia’s brother claimed he was suffering from depression that had become worse ‘due to economic and health problems’
It’s not clear how long the children were with Plasencia, but around 1 a.m. Wednesday, a patrol officer came across a “suspicious vehicle” parked on the pedestrian walkway at Lucky Shoals Park in Norcross.
According to a police report, the car, a 2005 Honda Accord, was still running and the taillights were on.
In the backseat, the officer discovered the bodies of a young boy and a girl, face down and on top of each other. Blood pooled beneath them and it appeared one of the children had been shot in the head.
Another girl was found slumped over in the passenger seat. Plasencia lay limp next to her, the window next to him was broken.
The officer determined that all four were “obviously deceased,” the report said. Police initially believed Plasencia was the children’s father at the time of the grueling discovery.
Their deaths are suspected to be the result of a murder-suicide, but investigators are awaiting confirmation from the medical examiner’s office.
On Thursday, families in the DeKalb County School District were informed that two Kingsley Elementary students and one Peachtree Middle student had died.
Kingsley Elementary, where Carlos and Chadal attended, posted a statement on Facebook.
“One of our Kingsley families has suffered a devastating loss this week. Our hearts go out to them, and to all our students and staff who held these children close,” the school wrote.
The statement urged community members to consider donating to the family’s GoFundMe “as they cope with their unspeakable loss.”
The fundraiser, organized by a friend of Rodriguez’s, included an appeal from the grieving mother.
“I am a single mother and my heart is broken by the tragic loss of my three little angels,” Rodriguez wrote. She asked for help with funeral costs and for money needed to send the children to her native Dominican Republic for a “Christian funeral.”
“I’m devastated, my heart is in pieces,” said Rodriguez, who described the children as her “world.”
Speak with Al Momentoa Dominican news outlet, Plasencia’s brother claimed that the 56-year-old was suffering from depression that had worsened “due to economic and health problems.”
The man’s neighbors described him as a family man who, “despite his financial and health problems,” continued to send money to his 84-year-old mother to pay for her medications.
Plasencia was not in a relationship with Rodriguez at the time of death.
Police records show he was previously arrested on an “expired or no driver’s license” charge and a traffic violation, but had no charges or convictions related to any violent crimes.
The 56-year-old was known to own a gun but told people he had recently sold it, police said.