HENRY COUNTY, Ga. — A father and daughter died on Thanksgiving Day in a murder-suicide shooting that started as a domestic dispute, according to police in Clayton County.
The department said that nearby Henry County authorities asked them around 9:35 p.m. to conduct a welfare check regarding two children being kidnapped from a residence in their jurisdiction. Henry County told Clayton Police that the incident was due to a domestic dispute.
Officers with Jonesboro Police found the car and authorities said they reached out to Clayton County Police for assistance. The driver, authorities said, drove off leading officers on a pursuit that landed them in a cul-de-sac in the 8000 block of South Bay Court.
They said officers approached the vehicle on foot and the driver, later identified as Lionel Edwards, took off, hitting a bush which caused the car to stop. That's when police reported hearing multiple shots being fired inside the vehicle. They rushed to the car, where they found a girl shot numerous times in the passenger seat.
"Officers attempted life-saving measure with no success. Unfortunately, the juvenile succumbed to her injuries," Clayton Police said.
Edwards suffered from a "self-inflicted gunshot wound" and was taken to a local hospital, where he died. The Clayton County Police Department confirmed that the two were father and daughter. The girl was 16 years old, police said.
One woman who lives nearby said the murder-suicide played out in front of her doorstep.
"It’s just sad to come outside and see a young person trying to be resuscitated," she said. "It was so close to, like right here and to see them resuscitate that baby, that hurts."
She called the tragedy heart-wrenching.
The Henry Police Department has not said what started the dispute or where the other child is, only that it was domestic and that the death occurred in Clayton County. An investigation into the dispute and shooting is being handled by Henry County, according to Clayton County Police on Friday.