Aaron D. Williams Columbus Ohio father shoots two daughters, aged 6 9 dead then self in murder suicide. History of domestic violence.
A father with a known history of domestic violence is reported to have shot dead his two young daughters before shooting himself dead in a suspected murder suicide.
Aaron D. Williams, 32, from Columbus, Ohio shot his two little girls aged 6 and 9 in their apartment on the city’s Far West Side.
Officers were called out to their block at around 10:22pm on Friday when neighbors heard arguing.
The police did not manage to get there in time and as they arrived heard gunshots ring out only to find six-year-old Alyse Williams and her nine-year-old sister, Ava, had been shot.
The children’s father was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound according to the Columbus Dispatch. He was pronounced dead by suicide at 11:32pm.
‘The girls, they were just so bright and full of energy’
The girls were taken to OhioHealth Doctors Hospital and both of them passed away shortly after midnight within half an hour of one another.
‘The girls, they were just so bright and full of energy,’ said Erica Osborn, a family friend.
‘Every time I knocked on the door to drop a meal off or pick one up, they would come running. The first thing they tell you is that they love you. I just cannot believe they’re gone,’ Osborn said.
‘They were part of a loving family, and this was very unexpected. From every angle we could tell, their father loved them. I just can’t imagine. I don’t know how he did it. I don’t know how he was able to do this to them,’ she continued.
‘To lose everybody in one night…,’ Osborn said. ‘I can’t believe it.’
A report via 10TV told of the father’s mother expressing shock and disconcert upon news of the killings, with the mother saying she was unaware of any issues leading to Friday’s mayhem.
Columbus police Chief Thomas Quinlan said Williams had faced previous domestic violence charges in the past and had been charged in September 2018, with intent to harm and assault to which he pleaded guilty.
He was given a three-day suspended sentence at the time WLWT5 reported.
A GoFundMe account has been set up to help the girls’ mother, Vanecia Shameer Kirkland, pay for funeral expenses.
