A pre-dawn welfare check at a Richardson apartment ended in tragedy last Wednesday, when officers discovered three people dead inside a unit in the 500 block of East Buckingham Road. The Dallas County medical examiner later ruled the woman and the child homicide victims and determined that the man died by suicide.
What the police say
According to a news release from the Richardson Police Department, a concerned family member called around 5:30 a.m. asking officers to conduct a welfare check. When police entered the apartment, they found an adult male, an adult female and a child dead inside. Detectives are treating the case as a suspected murder-suicide, and the investigation remains active.
Medical examiner's findings
The Dallas County medical examiner identified the woman as Katherine Milena Guadron Orantes and said the man, 30-year-old Hector Giovanni Herrera Herrera, died by suicide, while Guadron Orantes and the child were ruled homicide victims, according to The Dallas Morning News. Officials said the deaths occurred around 6:15 a.m., and all three were found inside the apartment.
Victim identities and community reaction
Spanish-language outlets that reported on the county’s identifications said the child was 6-year-old Ellery Leah Herrera Guadron and that the two adults were Hispanic, with neighbors describing a heavy police presence at the scene, as Univision reported. Authorities have not publicly detailed the relationship between the three or released a timeline beyond the welfare-check call, and detectives are working to reconstruct what happened while asking witnesses to come forward.
Investigation and resources
Detectives with the Richardson Police Department continue to investigate and are asking anyone with information to contact the department’s tip line, as noted in a news release from the Richardson Police Department. Local coverage has also shared hotline numbers and support resources for people affected by domestic violence or in crisis, according to The Dallas Morning News.
