Deaths of 3 young girls found in home with their mother ruled homicides
WOLCOTTVILLE, Ind. (WPTA/Gray News) - The causes and manners of death for an Indiana mother and her three young daughters whose bodies were found in their home in September have been determined.
Mother Rebecca Hughes, 32, died by suicide, Noble County coroner Lisa Strebig told WPTA. The deaths of her three daughters – 8-year-old Evalynn Newell, 6-year-old Allison Newell and 5-year-old Amelia Newell – were ruled homicides.
All four died from gas asphyxiation.
Police were dispatched to the family’s home in Wolcottville on Sept. 17 for a welfare check. There, they found Hughes and the girls dead.
Jonathan Newell, the father of the three girls, spoke about the deaths in a September interview with WPTA.
“What got me the most was ‘why?’ You ask yourself why this happened,” Newell said. “Was it because of the visitations? Did my kids die because I wanted to see them?”
While tearing up, the father said he was able to see his daughters for one hour that was supervised twice per month.
“That’s not an OK reason,” he said.
Newell also said in the interview that he wanted to “spread a light” on mental health and raise awareness that people need better access to such resources.
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