Hudson Oaks, Texas – A young mother who may have been depressed apparently hanged three of her small daughters and herself in a closet using pieces of clothing and sashes, authorities said Tuesday.
An 8-month-old daughter was also found dangling in the closet but was rescued by her aunt from the mobile home.
“It’s horrendous. That’s all I can say,” Parker County Sheriff Larry Fowler said.
The woman was identified as Gilberta Estrada, 25. The infant, Evelyn Frayre, was in good condition at a hospital, Fowler said.
Authorities did not immediately identify the other children, but Fowler said they were apparently ages 5, 3 and 2.
Filly Echeverria, who said she was the children’s godmother, identified the dead as Maria Teresa Estrada, Janet Frayre and Magaly Frayre.
After Estrada failed to show up for work, her sister, who lived nearby, forced her way into the locked residence in the Oak Hills mobile home park, about 25 miles west of Fort Worth.
Alejandra Estrada discovered the baby was still alive when she made a noise, authorities said. She called 911 and said through sobs that the infant was dying.
The sheriff said the hangings appeared to be murder-suicide because the doors were locked from the inside and a relative said Estrada had been depressed.
The young mother and her girls were last seen alive Monday evening, he said.
The sheriff said Estrada had won a temporary restraining order in August against Gregorio Frayre Rodriguez, 38, who was believed to be the father of the infant and some of the other children, after an attack on Estrada.
The sheriff said the couple had stopped living together in February.
