After mother was shot to death, her family fights for custody of twin boys who were left alone with her body
The mother whose body was found on a couch in the couple’s home last April died in that home, but her children didn’t want her body to be cremated and they kept vigil at her funeral. The father has never been charged.
“We have no evidence that they did anything wrong. We don’t know if this was an accident…. Just because you call police and say they caused an accident doesn’t mean they are responsible for the accident,” the lawyer for the boys said after the judge ruled that the father must live with his children.
The boys – ages 3 and 4 and their mother – are battling it out in a family court. The boys want their father to live with them, while the mother wants to keep the boys with her.
“This is a custody case, and the court is not the place to make this judgment,” said the boy’s lawyer, John F. Breslin, who was present for the hearing but did not make an appearance.
The judges have been told by lawyers that the boys are afraid after their father came into the house to investigate a noise coming from the TV. They told police that he threatened them after he came up from the basement.
Police say the boy got out of the house, got a gun and went upstairs, where the gun was found on his bed. The boy said he thought he was shooting someone, but didn’t know if he hit anyone.
Breslin said that the boy’s mother had taken over the care of the children after their mother’s boyfriend had left their home. Their father had worked as a chef on boats and was going to be a cook in a new restaurant he owned in Virginia Beach, Breslin said.
The mother’s boyfriend had died some years ago, and their mother had been “passionate” about taking care of the boys, he said.
The boys were in foster care since their mother had them.
The guardian ad litem for the boys has asked the judge to grant the father supervised visitation, Breslin said.
The judge has granted that request.
“This is a custody case, and
