Parents who were found dead with their children last Monday in a government investigation into a homicide were reportedly visiting the Davy County Sheriff’s Office in North Carolina just hours before the incident, authorities said.
At a news conference Wednesday, April 20, Davy County Sheriff J.D. Hartman explained the schedule he and his office collected in the hours leading up to the April 18 fatal shootings of Ashod Ewing-Mix, 26, his girlfriend Ashton Brown, 26, their children Bella at 4 years and Brix at 8 months.
On April 18, at about 2 p.m., a passerby driving down the street near the young couple’s home in Davey County saw smoke coming out of the windows and went to the Kulimi Fire Department to report it.
About 15 minutes later, first aid teams arrived at the scene and found the bodies of Brown and her young son in the kitchen, while the couple’s youngest daughter was found dead on the doorstep of the bedroom. Ewing-Meeks, the boyfriend and father, was found at the end of the hallway leading to the kitchen.
Authorities said all four had been shot and killed and that Ewing-Meeks was still holding the gun in his dead hand.
Family security footage in the sheriff’s office, taken just hours before the fatal suicide.
(WGHP)
Earlier in the day, at 12:11 p.m., local authorities filmed the family of security personnel visiting the sheriff’s office. In this report, they say, the couple spoke with the receptionist and were unclear, giving details of the intention of their visit, but asked to meet with a deputy.
The receptionist reportedly provided a number for the couple to call if they had any concerns, and they left the premises at 12:15 p.m.
Less than half an hour later, the young mother sent a call to 911 asking her to speak to a deputy once again, as she reportedly said she had safety concerns, according to a WGHP report.
Shortly before 1 p.m., a deputy from the office managed to contact Brown, who immediately handed the phone to her boyfriend Ewing-Mix.
Ashod Ewing-Meeks was seen posing with his 4-year-old daughter Bella.
(Facebook / Ashton Brown)
The sheriff’s office said there were a series of 30-second to two-minute conversations between police and the 26-year-old man, who refused to provide a place for authorities to meet or return to the sheriff’s office. office. Officials said Ewing-Meeks told them he suspected they were following him.
A deputy called the couple twice at 1:06 p.m., but the phone went directly to voicemail, making it the last contact authorities would have with living family members.
Before a passer-by told authorities about the house fire, a separate witness told the sheriff’s office that they saw the couple fight in front of the family home around 2 p.m., the WGHP reported.
Authorities later found that the fire was intentionally set on fire from the house, allegedly before the father aimed his gun at himself, they said.
Authorities are investigating the deaths of Ashod Ewing-Mix, his girlfriend Ashton Brown and their children Bella and Brix as suicides.
(Facebook / Ashton Brown)
Speaking at a news conference last Wednesday, Sheriff Hartman was speechless to describe the tragic incident.
“I’ve seen a lot in 30 years,” he told a news conference, but the case was “close to one of the worst, if not the worst.”
Deputies are investigating the incident as a homicide, as they believe Ewing-Meeks was killed by a self-inflicted gunshot wound and that he first shot and killed his girlfriend and two children.
The Independent contacted the Davy County Sheriff’s Office for comment on the ongoing investigation.
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