LITTLE ROCK — Authorities in Little Rock are investigating a double murder/ suicide that left two young children dead.
The mother reportedly was the one who discovered the five-year-old boy and four-year-old girl dead. They were in bed next to their deceased father, 39-year-old Robert Mangan.
Investigators believe Mangan murdered his children then committed suicide, CBS News reported.
The couple had recently separated and there had been problems in the home, police said, but they didn’t reveal if that was the motive behind the killings.
The bodies have been sent to the medical examiner’s office for an autopsy.
The tragic news comes as the city of Little Rock battles a recent spike in homicides. In 2016, the city recorded 42 homicides, and just 20 by August 15 of last year. As of August, the city has already had 43 murders, according to Arkansas Online.
The city is on pace to approach an annual total not seen since the gang wars of the early 1990s. Justice Department figures show 68 deaths in 1993 attributed to murder or manslaughter. McClanahan said other killings, such as justifiable homicide, pushed the total to 78 that year.