Utah Mom Allegedly Shoots Nine-Year-Old Daughter Three Times Before Turning Gun On Self

Police have discovered the bodies of a woman and her daughter in an apparent murder-suicide.

According to People, Utah authorities believe that 41-year-old Katrina Clark fatally shot her 9-year-old daughter, Madison Clark, before turning the gun on herself at their Magna home on the outskirts of Salt Lake City.

Police discovered the bodies on New Year’s Eve after being summoned to the residence by a concerned neighbor who noticed that a Christmas present had been left untouched on the front porch for days.

In light of this, investigators are suspecting that mother and daughter might have died as far back as 24 days ago.

The Daily Mail is reporting that 9-year-old Madison was shot three times and her mother ended her own life with one fatal bullet.

Bailey Miller, Katrina’s adult daughter, had recently written an encouraging Facebook post about Katrina and Madison and how much they had going on for them, revealing that Madison had just been baptized at a Latter-Day Saints Church.

Neighbors have expressed shock at the double deaths in a normally peaceful neighborhood with Ben Cummins, one of the distraught neighbors, saying it simply did not make any sense, pointing out that mother and child were happy and were extremely supportive when he first moved into the area.

Katrina was active on Facebook and posted regularly on the social media platform. Her posts included information about a successful weight loss procedure that helped her lose over 100 pounds and Yuletide gifts that she had bought for her 9-year-old child.

Her final post was on December 7, where she shared a video supporting President Trump’s decision to move the American Embassy to Jerusalem.

Katrina’s twin children, Bailey and Brandon, lost their dad to suicide and have been struggling to understand why their mother would kill herself and their step-sister. Bailey said she felt her mother had turned a corner after struggling with mental illness and was ill-prepared for the atrocity that followed.

“My heart aches to what had to have happened that night. I have been filled with anger and sadness and have begged God to give me some sort of reason. She struggled from mental illness for awhile but her heart was always in a good place. That is why this incident is just so shocking.”

Madison’s oldest brother, Gibson Clark, speaking to the Salt Lake Tribune, was less forgiving. He revealed that his mother was “really disturbed” and had been violent more than once toward him and his siblings.

According to Clark, they had called child protective services several times and eventually distanced themselves from her. Even at that, Clark believes there was plenty more “stuff going on in the house that we didn’t know about.”