Four people were found dead in what police are investigating as a murder-suicide in suburban Joliet Wednesday night, authorities said.
Officers responded to a home in the 500 block of Whitley Avenue at around 10:19 p.m. to find a male, female and two young children dead on the second story of the residence, Joliet police said in a statement.
The Will County coroner's office could not immediately confirm the fatalities and were unable to provide further information, including their ages and identities.
Officials said it appeared to be a murder-suicide and that they were not seeking any persons of interest in the incident.
Family members identified three of the deceased as 28-year-old Jacquelon Gaskin and her two children, 6-year-old Gianna Lee and 1-year-old Giovanni Lee.
"Beautiful grandchildren," Gaskin's stepfather Terrance Brooks said at the scene Thursday. "My grandchild was one year old, six-year-old granddaughter. Beautiful. Lord help us. Help us all."
"If you're not happy with yourself, maybe yourself, but why would your children..." Gaskin's mother Rusha Brooks said, her voice trailing off as she was overcome with emotion. "I just don't understand."
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Rusha Brooks said her daughter wasn't married to the father of her children, who she said was the fourth person found dead in the home, but the couple and the children had all been living together under the same roof.
"People need to stop," Terrance Brooks said. "We need to love. All this hate... just pray for my family."
The investigation into the deaths remained ongoing, according to Joliet police.
