LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The American dream became an American nightmare for some Kenyan immigrants in Louisville.

On Saturday morning, Louisville Metro Police were called to a home on East Pages Lane to investigate a shooting. When they arrived, officers found the bodies of a family of four.

LMPD is investigating the shooting as a triple murder-suicide. They believe Gary Stanton, 60, took his own life after shooting and killing his wife and two daughters: Mary Stanton, 49, Adrianna Stanton, 17, and Brianna Stanton, 11.

Police aren't saying what may have led to the tragedy, but family members said they never saw it coming.

Mary Stanton's sister, Emily Muchemi, said she received an unexpected message over the weekend from a family member on Facebook.

"She said, 'Please call me. 'It's about Mary,'" Muchemi said. "They went to the house and they found them all gone. And he had killed himself, as well. When I got the call, I just started screaming. So everybody knew something was wrong."

Muchemi and her mother live in Seattle, Washington, but talked to Mary Stanton every day.

She said the family immigrated from Kenya. Mary Stanton fell in love and settled in Louisville. Muchemi said her sister was very driven and became a registered nurse and business owner.

"She was very ambitious," Muchemi said. "She was very hardworking, very focused, energized. She started working at different nursing homes and then the hospital."

Muchemi said despite their daily conversations, she never expected the dream to turn into this nightmare.

"We didn't see anything ... nothing," she said. 

In fact, Muchemi said the whole family was together in October after their father died.

"It was a sudden death, too," she said. "He slept and he didn't wake up. And Mary, Gary, Brianna and Adrianna, they all came to Seattle for his memorial."

Liliam Mosaisi, a family friend, also immigrated from Kenya with her husband. They were friends with the Stantons but didn't know Muchemi.

"It is sad that the dad passed on and was buried last month," said Liliam Mosaisi, family friend.

Although she didn't know Muchemi, Mosaisi and her husband opened their home to Muchemi and her grieving mother.

"She mentioned that she's going to be staying in a hotel," Mosaisi said. "That's when I requested if she just come and stay with us.

"Because it's not easy for one to cry in a hotel with strangers. So I was like, 'We'll open the door. We're also crying for the same thing. So let's just cry together and encourage each other together.'"

Adrianna and Brianna Stanton were popular students at Jefferson County Public Schools. Adrianna Stanton, 17, was a senior at duPont Manual High School.

JCPS is offering counseling and support after two students were killed last weekend.

Principal Dr. Michael Newman said she was a gifted student with a bright future.

"She was definitely the top student, one of the top students in our school, and she just participated in so much," he said. "She got very involved in lots of activities here."

Brianna, 11, was a student at Noe Middle School. Her sixth-grade counselor said they are devastated by the news. 

"It has been a rough day, as you can only imagine," Tiffany Stoney said. "Hearing the news about the loss of one of our students is always devastating. We are just really trying to put those systems in place to make sure that we can manage the grief, because it's one of those things ... with human nature: We don't know what we are going to get when we walk through the door."

A GoFundMe page has been set up to cover the cost of travel and the funerals for the family. 

Anyone having thoughts of hurting themselves or others can call the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline 24 hours a day by dialing 988.

Related Stories:

Copyright 2022 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.