A 2-year-old boy and a 3-year-old girl from Michigan were murdered Tuesday by their mother, who then turned the gun on herself, PEOPLE confirms.
The two children — Dariel, known as DJ, and Mikayla Walker — were each shot once in the head, according to the Bay County Sheriff’s Office. The boy was found just outside the car where the bodies of Mikayla and the children’s mother, Nikita Landrum, 31, were discovered.
Landrum also died from a fatal gunshot wound to the head, investigators said.
Mikayla would have been 4 in April and DJ was turning 3 in June.
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The car was found in a Bangor Township industrial park some 100 mile from Farmington Hills, where the children were living with their mother. A handgun was also located at the scene.
A family friend told FOX2 in Detroit the children’s father, Dariel Walker, never thought their lives would have been in danger around his wife; the couple were separated and shared custody of their kids.
“Those kids are little angels and I say it all the time,” the friend, Kamal Miller, told the station. “It was an absolute and total shock to the family.”
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Efforts to reach the father were unsuccessful Friday.
Police are still trying to determine a motive for the violence.
A GoFundMe campaign has been established to cover the children’s funeral costs.
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