Maine Mom Commits Murder-suicide, KILLING TWO DAUGHTERS BEFORE TAKING HER OWN LIFE
Two little daughters were killed by their mother, who subsequently committed suicide late last month.
On July 27, the deaths of Hope Marie West, 6, Harmony Mae West, 11, and Jennifer Barney, 37, were discovered in the family’s apartment on Highland Avenue in Mechanic Falls, a tiny old mill town.
The youngest girl would have turned seven on the day of the tragic discovery. According to a press release from the Mechanic Falls Police Department, law enforcement was initially called to the residence in response to a report of a stolen U-Haul truck that had not been returned. The automobile was recovered after 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.
“The officer and a deputy with the Androscoggin Sheriff’s Office attempted to make contact with the resident at that address because she was the person who had rented the truck,” Mechanic Falls Police Chief Jeffrey Goss said in a statement. “It was revealed during their inquiry that the resident, an adult female, died inside her home. Officers entered the home and discovered two youngsters who had also died inside.
According to Goss, the case was subsequently turned over to the Maine State Police, following the established process.
An animal control officer was dispatched to take charge of the family’s pets, police said. According to the Sun Journal, neighbors reported that the family owned a tiny white dog and a Doberman pinscher. Within a few days, investigators decided that the crime scene was the location of a double murder-suicide. Neither law police nor the surviving family have suggested a motive for the brutality.
An autopsy revealed that one of the girls died from several stab wounds. The autopsy revealed that the other girl died from a variety of undetermined injuries. Authorities have not indicated how the killer died, as the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner stated that more testing was required to make such a decision.
“We are all in shock. Distraught. “Devastated,” grandma Davina Wilcox told Portland, Maine-based CBS affiliate WGME. “Never expected in a million years I’d be burying my grandchildren.”
Wilcox earlier buried her 31-year-old son, the father of the two kids and the spouse of their murderer, in December 2019.
“He enjoyed playing the guitar and time spent with his family and friends, but the company of his two young daughters, Hope and Harmony was his world,” according to his death certificate.
The bereaved mom described each murdered kid in turn.
“They were loved by everyone they knew,” Wilcox told the television network. “Harmony adored unicorns. Her favorite color was pink. She enjoyed wearing cosmetics and dressing up. I had a lot of pals at school.
“Hopey,” Wilcox said, appearing to hold back tears. “She was simply precious. She adored cats. Anything to do with kittens and cats. Her favorite color was purple. “She adored her sister.”
A GoFundMe campaign, which has now been deleted by the girls’ uncle who started it, garnered little over $10,000 for the family’s burial expenses. “Harmony and Hope were the best of friends, and we are grateful they had each other in the challenges they faced in their young lives,” the note accompanying the donation states. “Our hearts have been shattered by the tragedy of their passing.”
Both girls were born in nearby Lewiston. They both went to Elm Street School, a public school that served pre-kindergarten through sixth grade.
Neighbors told WGME and the Sun Journal that Harmony and Hope used to play on their trampoline every day.
“It was always so nice to see those little blonde heads jumping up and down on that trampoline, and I’ll miss that,” a neighbor named Devon told the TV station.
“Yeah, my nice friend,” Devon’s daughter Zoe responded. “We played games together. And we played on the playground together.”
In recent weeks, however, the girls stopped attending summer school programs and were not seen playing outside at all. While the reason for the tremendous loss remains unknown, the girls’ grandma has some ideas about those final weeks and days.
“Had she said anything, we would have helped,” Wilcox told WGME. “Everyone would have helped.”