🚨NO WHITE SUPREMACISTS INVOLVED🚨
FOX 13 News Utah published September 6, 2024: West Haven deaths confirmed to be result of murder-suicide.
The deaths of a woman and three young children, whose bodies were found outside a West Haven home earlier this week, were the result of a murder-suicide, the Weber County Sheriff's office announced Friday.
KUTV 2 News Salt Lake City published September 4, 2024: IN DEPTH: West Haven residents in shock after neighbor, children found dead in car.
West Haven resident Darren King discovered the grim news about his neighbor when he went out to check for an expected package and instead found the property next to his surrounded by yellow crime scene tape.
King shared what he heard and saw with KUTV 2News the day after his neighbor, a young mother, was found dead inside a car parked in her driveway.
Inside with her were three deceased children. All four had been shot.
At 3:30 minutes into the video, the KUTV2 reported asked the police officer, "Was there anything unusual about how they were situated in that vehicle?" The police officer responds, "That's all part of stuff we're learning through the investigation. But ALL 4 individuals were found in the back, laying down in the back of the vehicle." (emphasis mine)
KSL News pubilshed September 4, 2024: Woman, three children found dead with gunshot wounds in West Haven. A woman and three children were found dead inside a car in West Haven Tuesday night, according to the Weber County Sheriff’s office. It appeared that all four had been shot.
ABC4 Utah published September 4, 2024: Woman, 3 children found dead in car at West Haven home. An adult woman and three children were found dead inside a car at a Utah home late Tuesday night.
Fox13 News, Salt Lake City, Utah local
written by Michael Martin
Friday September 6, 2024
WEST HAVEN, Utah — The deaths of a woman and three young children, whose bodies were found outside a West Haven home earlier this week, were the result of a murder-suicide, the Weber County Sheriff's office announced Friday.
The woman was identified as 32-year-old Maribel Ibarra and her three children, one boy and two girls, ages 4, 2, and 1. Ibarra shared all three children with their father, who was interviewed by sheriff's office investigators.
During a briefing Friday, officials said the crime scene was contained to the rear cargo area of the vehicle where the deceased were found. Investigators weren't able to say exactly when shots were fired but believe it happened sometime Sunday night into Monday morning.
"Based on video evidence, physical evidence, witness statements and interviews with family members, detectives believe that this was a tragic incident of murder suicide," said Lt. Terance Lavely with the sheriff's office.
Surveillance video provided to investigators helped determine the nature of the deaths and that no one else was involved.
"The evidence indicates that Maribel shot her three children, in the rear cargo area of her vehicle before turning the gun on herself," Lavely added.
The deaths weren't reported to police until their bodies were discovered by a family member Tuesday night.
The Sheriff's Office pressed that the incident is still under investigation as they attempt to determine what occurred.
"I don't know if we will ever be able to answer that question. Maribel would be the one to answer that and obviously we can't ask her that," said Lavely.
Lavely added that the department's hearts go out for the victims and their families and add that resources are being made available to the first responders that had to respond to and investigate this incident. He said this is the second child death in two months for the county, and the eleventh child death scene they have processed this year.
The family shared this written statement with FOX 13 News following the press conference.
"With deep sorrow in our hearts, we want to express the following words. We are going through an extremely difficult time, with a pain in our hearts that cannot be explained in words to the invaluable loss we have suffered, because they were the light of our lives. As a family, we unfortunately know nothing about her [Maribel] mental health. We always saw her as a loving mother, which makes this so shocking for us. We do not know the exact reasons why this tragedy happened, and we deeply regret it. This pain is something we wish no one would ever have to go through. Therefore, we urge all those going through difficult times to seek help; please never hide your pain. Speak out and trust that you can overcome any situation. As we mentioned, our pain is beyond words, and as a family, we are trying to get through this, even though we honestly do not know exactly how to cope with it. This is why we ask you to please respect our grief, so that in this way you can help us begin to heal, little by little, even though right now it seems unattainable. We trust that God and the outpouring of love from the community will keep us strong and guide us to a path where we may one day find peace. We are grateful for the support and prayers of the entire community."
For those struggling with thoughts of suicide, the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline can now be reached by simply dialing 988 any time for free support. Resources are also available online at utahsuicideprevention.org.
KUTV 2 News Salt Lake City published September 5, 2024: Woman found dead with three kids in car described as 'caring, genuine'.
Amid mourning and the wait for information, a brother of the young mother found dead along with her three children in West Haven, said the family “cannot see” her taking the kids’ lives and then her own.
"With her children, she was really happy to be there for them,” said the brother, who asked we only report his first name, Christian. “She was caring, genuine too. They were her whole life. We would always see the kids laughing and playing with toys."
He believed his sister left the home they shared with other family members shortly after midnight Sunday, presumably to hang out with others, and the car was back in the driveway Sunday evening.
FOX 13 News Utah published September 5, 2024: Brother remembers West Haven woman as 'caring, genuine mother'.
A memorial with flowers and stuffed animals continues to grow on the porch steps of a West Haven home where a woman and three children were found dead inside a vehicle just two days ago.
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Fox13 News, Salt Lake City, Utah local
written by Mythili Gubbi
Thursday September 5, 2024
WEST HAVEN, Utah — A memorial with flowers and stuffed animals continues to grow on the porch steps of a West Haven home where a woman and three children were found dead inside a vehicle just two days ago.
Heavy hearts fill the neighborhood as many questions are still left to be answered. While the Weber County Sheriff's Office has scheduled an update for Friday morning, the community is still trying to process what happened.
"It's just something that don't normally happen, stuff like that," said neighbor Michael McGuire. "You hear about it on TV and stuff like that, but in your neighborhood where you live?"
Nothing was out of the ordinary Tuesday in McGuire's neighborhood. That's when a family member found the bodies of a 32-year-old woman and three children all under the age of 5 in a car parked in the driveway. In the hours following the discovery, the sheriff's office said it appeared that the bodies had suffered from gunshot wounds.
The woman's brother, Christian, told FOX 13 News that the family does not know how the incident happened, saying his sister was a caring and genuine mother whose children were her life.
"Shocked more than anything else because we had no idea. This is a pretty quiet neighborhood," added McGuire.
When tough incidents happen in any community, many wonder how to talk about them with children? Experts says it's okay to not have all the answers, but just to be there for your children.
"It's really normal to feel lots of different emotions when those big events happen," said Heather Shotwell with Intermountain Primary Children's Hospital. "Some kids might feel scared, some kids might feel nervous or worried, some kids might feel angry, and its important for parents to really create a space that validates and normalizes those feelings for their children."
The sheriff's office remains steadfast that there is no threat to public safety or to the neighborhood. Michael tells me he never saw this coming.
"I think it was a lone incident, had nothing to do with anything else around here," McGuire said.
Officials urge anyone struggling to process the tragedy to seek out resources such as the 988 Lifeline and the SafeUT app to help deal with situations such as what occurred in West Haven.
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