‘Controlling’ Illinois Man Guns Down Girlfriend And Their 2 Young Kids In Tragic Murder-Suicide

An Illinois man shot and killed his girlfriend and their two children before turning the gun on himself, autopsies have confirmed.

Joliet Police found the bodies of 34-year-old Brandyn Lee, 28-year-old Jacquelon Gaskin, 6-year-old Gianna Lee and 1-year-old Giovanni Lee on Wednesday night in their home. All of them died of a single gunshot.

Police suspected from the start that it was a murder-suicide case and that was confirmed by Will County Coroner's Office, according to The (Joliet) Herald-News.

“These are the worst types of calls that officers can respond to. Anytime a person is killed it’s a heartbreaking situation, but when children are killed, it’s incomprehensible. It is something I will never understand,” Chief Alan Roechner said in a statement. “My heart goes out to the family of the victims.”

Gaskin’s relatives were shocked to hear about the murder-suicide since they thought Gaskin and Lee were on good terms as a couple.

Jacquelon Gaskin. Photo: Jacquelon Gaskin/Facebook

“I never seen this coming. I wasn’t aware of this. I seen my daughter on Saturday, smiling, my grandchildren; just like every other time I see her. We did not expect this at all,” Terrance Brooks told CBS Chicago.

Gaskin’s mother, Rusha Brooks, said her daughter, who was studying to be a nurse, and two grandchildren were murdered because Jacquelon was preparing to break up with Lee.

“He was like a controlling type of guy, and I think she was trying to break away from that, and I think that was the trigger, because otherwise why would you? That was his last bit of control, was to take everybody away, not just himself,” Brooks said, according to CBS Chicago. “She was loved, and she is loved by a lot of people, and he just didn’t disrupt his life, he disrupted a lot of lives.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.