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The pregnant mom shot dead by her killer father in a grisly Pennsylvania murder-suicide boasted about the upcoming arrival of her “blessing” baby boy she was set to deliver Monday in a tragic final post.
Matthew Stone Sr., 45, was identified Monday as the gunman behind the horrific scene that left his pregnant daughter Angelina Stone, 24, sons Matthew Stone Jr., 21, and Jonathan Stone, 19, and wife Michelle Stone, 44, dead — before he turned the gun on himself Friday, Erie County coroner Lyell Cook said.
Stone also gunned down Angelina’s 5-year-old son and 1-year-old daughter, in addition to two women who tried to intervene, Lora Roberts, 37, and Twila Tanner, 51, in the rampage on Friday evening.
Angelina posted on Facebook on Sept. 25 about her excitement at the upcoming birth of her “chunky boy,” who she was planning to name Kyrie.
Sharing ultrasound scan pictures of the baby, she wrote, “A Blessing in My Eyes Momma Can’t Wait To Hold Yooouu.”
Police have not said what the gunman’s motives were but suggested mental health could have played a role.
Investigators said they were speaking with relatives and going through the cellphones of the two women who were killed outside the home to establish what happened.
Erie Police Chief Rick Lorah said Matthew Sr. had taken his own life inside the family home following the massacre.
The coroner did not identify the children who were killed, but at a memorial to the victims over the weekend, Julius Windham said his daughter Amari’anna was the toddler who had died.
Angelina was also the mother of the 5-year-old boy, named Isiah, Windham wrote in a fundraiser to help the family with funeral costs.
He said Sunday he had never seen the gunman distressed or doing anything out of the ordinary.
“I think that was a front for him,” Windham said. “Him every day, him smiling and being just — you would think of nothing like that would happen.”
Video and audio evidence obtained by investigators showed that muffled gunshot sounds were coming from inside the home before “distressed” Roberts and Tanner began pounding on the door.
Matthew Sr. then came out and shot them as they ran toward him before returning inside to kill himself.
Roberts was a frequent visitor to the house who had been helping out during her niece and neighbor Angelina’s pregnancy, while Tanner was the only non-relative caught up in the violence.
Identified as a mother of five who was engaged to her longtime partner, Roberts was a former board member of a community group that helps the homeless.
On July 15, she wrote a post on Facebook speaking out against a spate of recent shootings in Erie, which is 120 miles north of Pittsburgh.
“Erie we need to do better!!” she wrote. “Life is precious and its heartbreaking to see so much pain and violence.
“Check on the people you love, and always choose kindness.”
With Post wires
