WDRB 41 Louisville - News, Weather, Sports CommunityPOLICE: Mother, 3 children shot to death

POLICE: Mother, 3 children shot to death

By: Rachel Collier - rcollier@fox41.com

AUSTIN, Ind. (WDRB Fox 41)--A mother and her three children were found dead inside their Indiana home on Friday. Police say they all suffered gunshot wounds to the head--but police are not looking for any suspects.

Police stop short of calling it a triple murder-suicide, but say they are focusing their investigation only on the four people found dead inside the home.

The small road seems oddly busy as curious people slow down to take a look at a house on New York Street in Austin, Indiana. Karen Barrett remembers the last conversation she had with 30-year-old Amanda Bennett, "Just 'Hi! How ya doin?', she laughed, just like she, you know, she was a happy go lucky person, she just 'good how are you!' I waved my hand and went on, ya know."

Roses were left behind on a car for the four people found dead inside the burned home in Austin, Indiana Friday. Officials say Amanda Bennett and her three children--14-year-old Jasmine, 9-year-old Katelynn, and Ryan, 4-years old, all died from gunshot wounds to the head.

It appears Amanda and Katelynn might have suffered smoke inhalation. Although it is unclear how the fire started.

Police are not looking for suspects, but will not say it is a triple murder-suicide. "The detectives are not ready to make any determinations or give any exact facts on what happened inside of the home," said Sergeant Jerry Goodin, with Indiana State Police.

Friends say there were signs of marital problems. "This past Sunday night we come home from church," said Barrett, "and there were two loads of cops here and the husband and wife I assume had a scuffle because that's what my niece said, that Jasmine had come to school talking about her mom and dad getting a divorce."

But other than that, Barrett says you would never know. "He'd get out and play basketball with the kids, she'd sit out on the porch and watch 'em play you'd never know there was any family trouble, never," said Barrett.

Police would not comment on any possible domestic problems. "That is part of our investigation so there are some things that we don't want to release," said Goodin.

Debra Davidson is a cook at Austin Elementary and says she'll never forget 9-year-old Katelynn. "She always gave me and one of the other cooks a hug every day," said Davidson.

The deaths are something many just cannot comprehend. "I can't understand it," said Barrett, "I just can't see it myself, Lord knows all about it."

"We owe this not only to the family, but the public," said Goodin, "and we're going to come to some answers and when we get those answers we'll release them."

Austin schools will have extra counselors at school on Monday.

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB Fox 41) -- The Kentucky Medical Examiner's Office in Louisville, KY has completed the autopsies on the four bodies discovered in a residence located at 310 New York Street in Austin, Indiana.

Friday afternoon, around 4:21 p.m. an officer from the Austin City Police Department made forced entry into the residence to check on the welfare of those inside. When the officer entered the residence he noticed parts of the home had been burned. The officer conducted a quick search of the residence and found four deceased victims inside.

Below are the names of the deceased and the preliminary causes of death.  

• Amanda Bennett, female, 30, 310 New York Street, Austin, IN.  Preliminary cause of death, gunshot wound to the head area and smoke inhalation.
• Jasmine Abbott, female, 14, 310 New York Street, Austin, IN. Preliminary cause of death, gunshot wound to the head area.
• Katelynn Bennett, female, 9, 310 New York Street, Austin, IN. Preliminary cause of death, gunshot wound to the head area and smoke inhalation.
• Ryan Bennett, male, 4, 310 New York Street, Austin, IN. Preliminary cause of death, gunshot wound to the head area.

Amanda Bennett was the biological mother of the all of the deceased children.

The official causes of death will not be determined until toxicology results from autopsies return which typically takes up to six weeks.

At this time detectives have not released specific facts in this incident due to pending test results and continuing interviews. This case is still under investigation.

Scott County School District #1, (Austin Schools), will have extra counselors present at the schools on Monday.

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AUSTIN, Ind. (WDRB Fox 41) -- Autopsies to be conducted Saturday morning will help police tell how and why "up to four" people died in Austin, Indiana.

Police found them Friday afternoon in a house which also had caught on fire.

Police have not released the names of those who died.

Their investigation started with a check-on-the-welfare call to the home on the west side of Austin, in the Spicertown neighborhood.

It is 35 miles north of downtown Louisville.

Police expected to spend most of Friday night and Saturday morning gathering evidence and other clues in and out of the house on New York Avenue.

Neighbors huddled in the cold and could only stand, wait and watch officers do their work.

They knew the victims in the house -- and said they were related.

TamRa Stidham described her friend, a fellow teen.

"Her mom, she treated us all the same. She helped us out if we needed help, and she was basically like my second mom. I'm like in shock right now, I'm sorry," Stidham said.

An Austin police officer found people dead inside -- and signs of a fire -- about 4:20 Friday afternoon.

"Once they entered into the home, the home had been burnt. As they made a quick search of the home they found up to four victims inside of the home," said Indiana State Police spokesman Sgt. Jerry Goodin.

When Fox 41 News asked about his use of the phrase "up to four victims," Goodin responded, "Obviously we won't give an exact number of the deceased until we get a very thorough search of the home by our crime scene investigators."

Earlier, troopers said that four people had died, and that the fire inside the house apparently had extinguished itself.

"We're hoping that (Saturday) morning this autopsy will be able to tell us what happened here at the home," Goodin said.  The autopsies were scheduled for the Kentucky state medical examiner's office in Louisville.

Officially, police called the Austin case a 'death investigation.'

Police said there are no suspects and no reasons to believe anyone else may be in danger.