Man Fatally Shoots Pregnant Wife, Her Toddler Son Before Killing Self

A man shot his pregnant wife and her toddler son to death before turning the gun on himself. The apparent murder-suicide happened Sunday, April 18, at a home in Arkansas, USA.

23-year-old Paiden Nicole Priest, and her 2-year-old son, Grayson Alexander Beckham, died of gunshot wounds, Sunday morning.

Officers from the Van Buren Police Department responded to an apartment after neighbors reported hearing gunshots.

The caller reported that bullets had pierced through his wall, with one even hitting the headboard, right above where he and his wife had been sleeping.

Responding officers found the mother and child lying in a pool of blood. They were pronounced dead at the scene.

Officers found the suspect, David Priest, unresponsive with a gunshot injury, which police believe were self-inflicted. He was transported to a nearby hospital. He later succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead.

"This is one of the worst cases that we’ve had to ever deal with," Van Buren police Sgt. Jonathan Wear said. "But we do believe that this was done by David Priest."

David is not the biological father of the deceased toddler, police said.

Neighbors told police that they heard the couple argue before the incident happened.

"We do know there was some arguing heard by the neighbor prior to the gunshots being heard," Wear said.

Paiden was in the third trimester of her pregnancy. Sarah Beals, a neighbor of the deceased family, recalled that they had always been "nice" and "sweet."

"A couple weeks back they were all playing outside," Beals told 40/29 News.

"The wife’s beautiful and she was so pretty and the child was so sweet, so kind," Beals said. "No innocent life should be taken and a child not even born yet and a toddler — no life should be taken," she added.

Detectives recovered a handgun from the crime scene. The case is being investigated as an apparent murder-suicide. The exact motive behind the slayings is unclear at this time.

In a similar incident, a woman was found shot to death, Tuesday, April 20, inside a car parked in a parking lot in Florida. The suspect later shot himself to death inside another vehicle after he was stopped by the police.

A 2-year-old child sleeping inside the woman's vehicle was found unharmed.