Four young children were found dead inside their Gwinnett County home Thursday morning, a fifth sibling taken to the hospital in unknown condition. The children's father was also stabbed to death, police said, and their mother was taken into custody.
Authorities called the killings inside a mobile home near Loganville "horrendous" — and the incident may indeed be one of the deadliest involving children and their parents in the country's recent history.
In South Carolina in 2014, a man named Timothy Ray Jones Jr. allegedly killed his five children, ages 1 through 8. He then drove them to Alabama, where he buried them. He reportedly claimed the children were planning to kill him.
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In California in 2004, a man named Marcus Wesson shot and killed nine of his children and grandchildren, who ranged in age from 1 to 25.
In Texas in 2001, Andrea Yates, who had a history of mental illness and was later found not guilty by reason of insanity, drowned her five children in a bathtub. They ranged in age from six months to 7 years.
Georgia — and Gwinnett County itself — have also been home to high-profile cases involving the deaths of multiple children.
- In Douglas County in February 2015, Cedric Prather shot six people and himself. Four of the six victims, including a 7-year-old boy and 9-year-old girl, were killed. Prather also died.
- In January 2015, ex-Marine Kisha Holmes killed her three children inside their Cobb County apartment before taking her own life — and that of the fourth child she was pregnant with.
- On Feb. 9, 2011, Elvis Noe Garcia-Nolasco stabbed three of his children inside their Gwinnett County home, initially blaming the incident on his ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend. Two of the children, ages 1 and 3, died from their injuries. (Eight days later, a methamphetamine-fueled explosion claimed the lives of three more Gwinnett children. They were 21 months, 3 years and 4 years old.)
- In July of 1999, an Atlanta man named Cyrano Marks shot and killed six people, including four children.
Editor’s note: This story previously provided the incorrect date for the Andrea Yates incident in Texas. The date above is correct.
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The AJC's Tyler Estep keeps you updated on the latest happenings in Gwinnett County government and politics. You'll find more on myAJC.com, including these stories:
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