Mum kills three children in murder-suicide a week after divorce

Disturbing details have emerged after a Texas mother murdered her three children and then turned the gun on herself following a divorce.

A Texas mother who once shared her anti-gun violence views on Facebook gunned down her three children this week before turning the weapon on herself — jut a week after her bitter divorce was finalised, according to authorities and a new report.

Ashley Auzenne, 39, fatally shot Parrish, 11, Eleanor, 9, and Lincoln, 7 — and then herself — in their Deer Park home, the New York Post reports.

Authorities found their bodies when they got a request for a welfare check and responded to the New Orleans Street home around 8.45am on Tuesday.

Police also found a gun inside the home.

The Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the deaths a murder-suicide on Thursday, with Ashley Auzenne as the suspect, authorities said.

Ashley Auzenne with her kids, Parrish, 11, Eleanor, 9, and Lincoln. Picture: Facebook

Court records obtained by local station ABC 13 indicate that Ashley and Murvin Auzenne Jr had just finalised their divorce last week.

Mr Auzenne Jr told The Houston Chronicle on Wednesday his estranged wife was “very upset” with the result.

She was concerned she’d not be able to move with the kids to her hometown and would need to find a job and pay him rent if she stayed in their current home, he said.

Still, he was stunned that she could be capable of murder.

“Ashley tried her best to be a good mother,” Mr Auzenne Jr said.

“She and I had our issues, we argued and fought just like any other couple headed for divorce, but I never had any reason to believe she was capable of this. Nobody did.”

It is understood Ms Auzenne had finalised her divorce a week before the horrific attack. Picture: Facebook

Last November, Ms Auzenne framed her Facebook profile picture with an “#End Gun Violence” banner.

On Halloween 2018, she posted about her battle with lupus, sleep apnoea, arthritis, depression and anxiety.

A relative had asked police to visit the home for a welfare check on Tuesday — and that’s when authorities made the shocking discovery, according to the report.

“It really makes me mad, to be honest,” Chris Pierce, whose children attended the local Deer Park Elementary School with the Auzenne clan, told the station.

Ms Auzenne had previously posted about her anti-gun violence stance. Picture: Facebook

“It’s just amazing how it affects everybody, whether they go to school with them or not.”

Back in July, Ms Auzenne posted a Facebook photo of all three children smiling as they sat on the grass near a lake.

“They were kids you wanted to have around, they really were,” the children’s paternal grandfather Murvin Auzenne Sr told ABC 13.

“They played well, they talked to the adults. They’re amazing children in all kinds of fantastic ways.”

“The family has all rallied around my son, Murvin,” the elder Auzenne added.

“Our focus is only on one thing: helping through this difficult time.”

This article originally appeared on the NY Post and was reproduced with permission