Five kids orphaned after parents’ suspected murder-suicide on Christmas morning

The children aged from 7 to 16 years old were not injured and didn’t witness the deaths, authorities say

Harris County Sheriff’s deputies say five children were left parentless after a murder-suicide on Christas morning (ABC13)

Five children have been left orphaned after both their parents died in a suspected murder-suicide in Houston on Christmas morning.

Harris County Sheriff’s deputies were called to an address on Daun St around 1am Christmas Day where they found a man and a woman dead in the front yard.

They named the deceased as Maria Gonzalez, 42, who authorities say suffered blunt force trauma to the head, and 45-year-old Arsenio Gonzalez, who died of a single gunshot wound to the head.

Inside the home, they found five children aged from 7 to 16 years old.

Update to murder-suicide on Daun Street: the husband and wife were discovered in the front lawn. Husband has been identified as Arsenio Gonzalez (45) & his wife Maria Gonzalez (42). The wife had signs of blunt trauma and the husband appeared to have a self-inflected gunshot https://t.co/xSHd3jt5wr

— Ed Gonzalez (@SheriffEd_HCSO) December 25, 2021

The children were uninjured and did not see their parents’ deaths, Harris County Sheriff’s office said in a statement.

The husband and wife had attended a family function earlier in the evening, and the assault and shooting occurred when they returned home, authorities say.

Investigators recovered a firearm from the scene.

The children have been placed with Child Protective Services, and are expected to be released to family members.

“Right now, we’re in contact with CPS and we’ll let them determine who they will be released to, probably family members,” Sergeant Greg Pinkins told Click2Houston.

“We’ll continue to do our investigation here and we’ll be talking to family members who were probably at the party to see if we can get some background.”