A New Hampshire mom may have shot and killed her toddler son before turning the weapon on herself inside the family’s secluded cottage home, authorities said.
Another resident of the house in the woods on Pembroke Hill Road called 911 around 1 a.m. Friday after reportedly hearing two gunshots, according to the Pembroke Police Department.
Julia Byrne and toddler son Blake were in an upstairs bedroom, each with with single gunshot wounds to the head, police said.
The mom, 26, was pronounced dead at the scene, while her child was rushed to a local hospital, where he died.
The case is being investigated at a possible murder and suicide, the New Hampshire Department of Justice said.
The site of the shooting, a two-story yellow shingled house at the top of a hill along a usually serene rural area, was cordoned off with crime scene tape early Friday as investigators took forensic photos, according to the Concord Monitor.
“I don’t know who lived there, and I don’t think I ever saw them come out of the house,” Ryan Demers, a neighbor who has lived on Pembroke Hill Road for two years, told the news outlet.
“As far I knew, they pretty much kept to themselves,” he added.
Julia Byrne’s social media is filled with happy pictures of her and her son on hikes and picnics, but she had also shared a number of troubling posts about struggling with her mental health and the challenges of being a mother, the Daily Mail first reported.
Byrne enlisted in the US Army in 2018. It is unclear if Byrne graduated basic training or was an active military member at the time of her death.
If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts or are experiencing a mental health crisis and live in New York City, you can call 1-888-NYC-WELL for free and confidential crisis counseling. If you live outside the five boroughs, you can dial the 24/7 National Suicide Prevention hotline at 988 or go to SuicidePreventionLifeline.org.
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