The community of Hephzibah, Georgia is mourning a mom and her twin sons who died in an apparent murder-suicide.
Richmond County deputies say Shaquia Philpot, 25, drove her car with her 10-month-old twin boys into the Mayor’s Pond near the Augusta Regional Airport.
A fisherman spotted the submerged vehicle shortly after 5 p.m. on Friday and alerted authorities. Philpot and her children were pronounced dead at the scene, Crimeonline.com reports.
Evidence found at the scene points to a murder-suicide and not an accident, deputies say. The family lived about 10 miles from the pond.
Family members were in disbelief at the news that Philpot killed herself and her twins.
“When I found out it was her, I was stuck, and I didn’t believe it,” said Philpot’s stepbrother, Darius Coleman. “To this day, I still don’t believe it.”
Coleman said he talked to her three or four days ago, and she was in a good mood laughing and joking.
Family members say she was happy, loving and a wonderful mother to her children.
The bodies were sent to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for autopsies. Authorities hope the autopsy results will shed light on why the tragedy happened.
