Texas Woman Found Dead, Throat Of 3-Month-Old Baby Cut Open

A 3-month-old baby was found dead with a slit throat near the body of his mother, Dallas News is reporting. Shanna Vandewege and her son Diederik were found dead Thursday night in their Fort Worth, Texas, home. Police are treating both deaths as homicides.

Shanna’s husband, Craig, found the body of his 36-year-old wife and 3-month-old son when he returned home late from work. Police confirmed that they received a call around 9:30 pm from a man who claimed he had found a woman and child dead at a north Fort Worth home in the 8500 block of Cactus Flower Drive.

Craig said he found the house “in disorder” before stumbling over the bodies of his wife and son. Authorities have not backed the theory of a home invasion. A medical examiner said the baby died from the bleeding wound on the neck. The cause of death for his mother remains unconfirmed. Both were found in their beds.

Shanna and Craig had only recently moved to Fort Worth from Colorado earlier in the year, according to WFAA News. Craig worked at Costo, while Shanna was a registered nurse. Shanna’s father, Mark Riddle, said the couple was overjoyed at the arrival of their newborn, after his daughter had suffered three painful miscarriages. He confirmed that his son-in-law was the first one to come across the traumatic discovery.

“They tried so long to have a baby. She had three miscarriages prior to having one. To the best I understand, he walked in, the house was all in disorder and walked in and found them both.”

Riddle said his daughter was still on maternity leave when she was killed. He added that family members were looking forward to seeing his grandson during the holiday season as his daughter and son-in-law had already planned to visit during Christmas. Riddle was still dumbfounded over the rationale behind killing a 3-month-old baby and a new mother.

“A new mother, a 3-month-old baby…why? Why kill them? There’s no reason?”

According to him, Craig Vandewege came house hunting alone because his wife was expecting any moment. Mark said his son-in-law to the best of his knowledge believed that he had picked a good neighborhood.

“They picked out the neighborhood that they thought was one of the best neighborhoods they could find…apparently it wasn’t.”

Shanna Vandewege was thrilled w/ the birth of a son after 3 previous miscarraiges. Now she and the infant are dead. https://t.co/rV9OzMSZKj

— Deanna Boyd (@deannaboyd) December 16, 2016

Neighbors, Brianna Ayala, 18, and Brad Daluz, 34, said the neighborhood had always been deemed safe and welcoming. Ayala said she knew something was in the offing when the police showed up and everywhere was eerily quiet.

Police interviewed the husband and said he answered all the questions asked. They have made known that they are not looking for any particular person at the moment, but have not ruled anything out. Another neighbor, Eric Tivnan, said neighbors were still puzzled over the deaths and were also concerned for their own safety.

Random acts of violence involving women have been occurring recently, according to the Inquisitr. In West Virginia, a former sheriff’s deputy tortured his wife for 13 hours. Kevin Woodrum pummeled his wife repeatedly, burned her with a lighter, cut her hair, sexually assaulted her and tried to waterboard her after he allegedly lost his temper.

The 43-year-old who resigned as an officer in 2004 to work in the coal industry was charged on a number of counts. These counts included strangulation, sexual assault, kidnapping, domestic battery, domestic assault and malicious wounding.

This is the Highland Lakes home in Shelby County where Constance Leigh Woolweaver, 37, was found killed yesterday https://t.co/qbV2lPj4cU pic.twitter.com/OGdZAnh3gi

— WBRC FOX6 News (@WBRCnews) December 15, 2016

In another case, an Alabama woman, Constance Woolweaver was shot multiple times in her home by a friend and business partner, Adam Burrus. The 37-year-old woman, who is also a mother-of-two, was discovered by her son when he returned home from school.

Police have described the killing as a “crime of passion.” The suspected killer, Adam Burrus, had willingly turned himself over to authorities, but had refused to answer questions without the presence of an attorney.

[Featured Image by Prathaan/Thinkstock]