Police: Apparent Double Murder-Suicide After 3 Bodies Found Inside Brooklyn Apartment
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Police are investigating what authorities said appears to be a double murder-suicide after the bodies of a man, woman and 7-year-old boy were found inside an apartment in Brooklyn.
The bodies were discovered around 11:50 p.m. Monday in a second-floor apartment at 749 Lafayette Ave., in Bedford-Stuyvesant, police said.
WCBS 880's Alex Silverman reports
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Neighbors said they called police because of a bad smell coming from the apartment, according to authorities. They said they hadn't seen the couple since a block party Saturday night.
"The odor, it started to smell Saturday, but on Sunday it was even worse," neighbor Vivian Mallory told CBS 2's John Slattery.
"I was like, it smells funny. Smells like death. I know the smell of death," Rufus Young added.
All three victims were shot in the head and a gun was found at the scene, police said.
Beatrice Finkley told CBS 2 her nephew, his wife and one of their grandsons from a previous relationship are the victims. The three have been identified as 44-year-old David Sherrod, 51-year-old Alma Cox and 7-year-old Jaquan Cox, police said.
1010 WINS' Glenn Schuck reports
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"Terrible. It's a shock. It's terrible, it's sad. Three dead? And so close to home," Mallory said.
"I think it's terrible. I still can't grasp what happened across the street from me," Nancy Clinton added.
According to investigators, David Sherrod was arrested several times for drug-related offenses, but his record had been clean since he left prison 11 years ago, CBS 2's Slattery reported. Mark Sherrod said his brother's demons were long behind him.
"To come up in the streets in Bed-Stuy and you get in trouble and you change your life around," he told WCBS 880's Alex Silverman. "He was happy with what he had accomplished.
"We had a gathering not long ago, he seemed to be okay. He didn't seem to have any problems of any kind," Mark Sherrod told CBS 2's Slattery.
"No, he wasn't troubled. He was a working person, you know what I'm saying? He took care of kids, you know what I'm saying?" nephew Jabbar Bradley added.
Both adults worked for the company that owns the building, sources said. David Sherrod was a janitor and Alma Cox was a rent collector.
"When I saw them together, they was the most perfect couple," Finkley said. "I got a pain in here, but I'm all right. You know you have to get used to it because as we know, life must go on."
But others said you can't tell a book by its cover and that there may have been problems percolating under the surface, that suddenly became a burst of gunfire.
"It could have been stress. It could have been due to marriage. I don't know. You know what I mean?" said Ronell Prince, David Sherrod's nephew.
The investigation is ongoing.
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