Maryland man kills ex-girlfriend and three others in suspected murder-suicide

La Plata businessman comes home from work to find five dead - including his two adult children and ex-wife

A Maryland man killed his ex-girlfriend, her brother and mother and another man before turning the gun on himself in what authorities are describing as a quadruple murder-suicide.

Law enforcement was called to an address in La Plata on 4 November after the homeowner Darin Mann had come home from work to find five people dead inside, the Charles County Sheriff’s Office said in a post on Facebook.

The victims were identified as Mr Mann’s children Sara Mann, 21, and Kai Mann, 18, ex-wife Sommaly Mann, 48, and Jovon Watson, 23, who family say was going on his first date with a new girlfriend that night.

An initial investigation found Sara Mann’s ex-boyfriend Andre Sales, 28, had shot all four before killing himself, the sheriff’s office said.

The sheriff’s office later clarified that some of the victims had been stabbed, according to the Washington Post.

A medical examiner will determine the exact cause of death. Authorities have recovered a gun used in the shooting.

Darin Mann’s brother Robin Mann told the Washington Post that Sales was the father of Sara Mann’s two young children.

Sara Mann, (left) 21, her brother Kai Mann, 18, and their mother Sommaly Mann, 48, were shot and killed in their home in La Plata, Maryland on 4 November (NBC Washington)

Jovon Watson, 23, was one of four people shot and killed by a gunman who then killed himself, authorities say (GoFundme)

Authorities said the two children were initially unaccounted for, but were later found alive at a different address.

Sales had previously lived at the address in the Agricopia neighbourhood, about 30 miles (48kms) south of Washington DC.

In 2021, a restraining order was taken out against Sales by an unidentified person, The Post reported, citing Maryland court records.

Mr Watson was remembered by family as a devoted brother and son who “spread love and happiness everywhere he went” on a GoFundme page set up to raise funds for his funeral expenses.

His cousin Jolona Watson told NBC Washington that he had gone to meet a woman for a date on the night he died.

The family grew concerned after he had not responded to messages for 24 hours.

After seeing reports that five people had been shot at the address in La Plata, they drove to the scene knowing “something was wrong”.