By DANIEL YEE
Associated Press Writer
AUSTELL, Georgia- A New Orleans couple who left their home after Hurricane Katrina died in an apparent murder-suicide, leaving behind a baby girl and a severely injured 4-year-old boy.
Police entered the couple’s rented home in the Atlanta suburb of Austell early Wednesday after a call from a relative in New Orleans.
The woman said that her nephew had called her to he had an argument with his wife and that she was dead, according to police Chief Bob Starrett.
Police Lt. Gordon Firth said they found the woman dead in the living room, and her injured son strapped in a nearby high chair.
A police commando team found Jerome Spears, 28, in a back bedroom, dead from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot, Starrett said.
The boy, who Firth said is autistic, underwent surgery Wednesday morning.
A 5-month old girl was uninjured, Starrett said.
“The tragic thing is this 4-year-old boy most likely saw his mother killed and was (injured) and tied up right there where his mother was lying in a pool of blood,” Starrett said. “It’s as bad as it could get.”
The names of the 24-year-old woman and the children were not immediately released. Starrett said authorities were having difficulty finding the couple’s relatives because so many Louisiana residents scattered after the hurricane.