Mother fires 34 shots to kill her 4 children before turning gun on herself

SCREEN CAPTURE

ASAM NEWS

AN AUTOPSY has revealed new details about an alleged October 15 murder-suicide involving a mother and her four Chinese adopted teenaged children. CBS17 reports. 

The Tennessean reports the mother, Cynthia Collier had been trying to reconcile with her husband following divorce proceedings this past spring. They had been separated since 2007 and had not lived together in Columbia, Tennessee since 2009.

The coroner’s report paints a grisly picture of the children’s demise before their mother fired 34 shot before taking her own life. Kaileigh Lin, 17, was found on the bathroom floor with 13 gunshot wounds, according to WVLT. Her 15-year-old sister Lia was found in her bed with nine gunshot wounds. NBC reports that Bo and Meigan, both 14, were also found dead in their beds “with four and eight gunshot wounds respectively.” 

Authorities believe the mother turned the gun on herself after killing her children.

The bodies were found by an older son when he returned home. The Colliers had three biological children of their own before they adopted the Chinese children.

The autopsy lists the four children’s death as homicide, according to WFMY News2. A note was found, but the police did not reveal the contents of the note.

Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles says that the tragedy has impacted the entire community, according to WKRN.

“There’s a lot of angst and uncertainty and trying to figure out why and how this could happen,” Ogles said. “How could four children be taken all at once in such a violent fashion.” He continued, “We’ll never fully understand what happened, but maybe we can learn from it, bringing awareness to mental illness.”
_______________________________________________________________________________