BRIGHTON (WWJ) - Police in Brighton are investigating an apparent murder-suicide involving a 5-year-old girl and her mother.
The girl's father called police Monday for a welfare check after a missed custody exchange over the weekend. Officers responded to the woman's apartment on North Second Street, found her car in the driveway and attempted to make contact without success. After a landlord let them into the apartment, officers found both mother and daughter dead.
Brighton police on Tuesday afternoon said the woman, who has been identified as 38-year-old Melissa Partee, was suffering from depression and anxiety due to being in fear of losing her child.
Police say Partee, who was the man's ex-girlfriend, killed the girl and then took her own life. Authorities say preliminary autopsy reports suggest the young girl died of strangulation and evidence collected at the scene also suggest she may have been sedated with pills mixed into a drink.
The mother's autopsy confirms she died of a single gunshot from a .38 revolver to the head.
Toxicology reports are still pending on both and the investigation is still ongoing to piece together what led up to the deaths.
The pair is believed to have been dead for about five days.
