Investigators looking into the deaths of four girls and their adoptive mother who were found dead in their Carters Creek Pine home in Columbia, Tennessee, on 15 Oct have discovered that they were killed in a murder-suicide.
A recently concluded autopsy report shows that the girls were killed by their stay-at-home mother, Cynthia Collier before she killed herself with a gunshot to her head.
The oldest, 17-year-old daughter, Kaileigh Lin, was found in the bathroom with 13 g‌u‌n‌‌s‌h‌ot wounds while 15-year-old Lia Lin was found on her bed with nine gunshot wounds. The youngest children, Bo Lin and Meigan Lin, were found on their shared bed with four and eight gunshot respectively.
The autopsy report also mentioned a suicide note but the local press were not allowed access to the letter. The report further noted that sleeping pills ZzzQuil and melatonin, were found in Collier’s kitchen.
Noting that the incident has impacted the Maury County community, Mayor Andy Ogles told the press: “There’s a lot of angst and uncertainty and trying to figure out why and how this could happen. How could four children be taken all at once in such a vio‌‌le‌n‌t fashion. We’ll never fully understand what happened, but maybe we can learn from it, bringing awareness to mental illness.”
The authorities are presently working to establish a motive. Investigations are ongoing.