A Michigan woman shot and killed her husband, two children, and the family dog on Friday morning before she turned the gun on herself.
Lauren Stuart, 45, killed her husband Daniel, 47, and their children Steven, 27 and Bethany, 24. The whole family was found dead in their Keego Harbor home in Michigan when a relative called 911 and asked the police for a welfare check. Police found all the victims shot in the head. The handgun was found at the scene.
Friends of the family say that Stuart had left the Jehovah’s Witnesses five years ago and they had been subsequently shunned by their former community. The reason for shunning was that the family wished to send their children to college which is banned by the group. Friends assume that the isolation from the shunning may have caused Lauren’s outbreak and the subsequent murder of her beloved ones. When a person leaves the group, current members are not allowed to communicate with them.
A friend of the family, Joyce Taylor, attended a Jehovah’s Witness meeting in Union Lake on Sunday and blamed them for the triple murder-suicide. She addressed to the attendants, saying that a small family felt isolated since they’ve been banned from the community and left with no support.
Daniel was a data solution architect for the University of Michigan’s Center for Integrative Research in Critical Care. Lauren worked as a website model and a part-time personal trainer at a Detroit Metro-area YMCA.
Authorities have not released the motive yet. The investigation is still ongoing. Police confirmed that they were aware of the issues that the family had with the church. They said Lauren left a long suicide note, but they will not release any more details at this time.