Authorities in Texas say a woman who drove her SUV into a river earlier this year, killing herself and her infant daughter, did so intentionally.
On April 25, the woman was behind the wheel of a Kia SUV in Channelview, Texas, just east of Houston, with her three young children — ages 7, 5, and 1 — inside, according to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez. The vehicle veered off the road and plunged into the San Jacinto River.
A Good Samaritan was able to rescue the two older children, Gonzalez said, but the woman and her infant daughter were pronounced dead at the scene.
Both had drowned, and the baby was still strapped into her car seat when found, the Houston Chronicle reported. The surviving children were taken to the hospital in stable condition, the outlet added.
On Thursday, Aug. 28, Gonzalez announced that the case had been ruled a murder-suicide. Investigators discovered a suicide note inside the submerged vehicle, confirming the act was intentional.
Authorities have not publicly identified the victims, but the woman’s sister named them as 39-year-old Crystal Hall-Njepu and her 1-year-old daughter Annah in a GoFundMe appeal.
The fundraiser, organized by Hall-Njepu’s sister Shannon Jackson to help with funeral costs and ongoing support for the surviving children, has raised more than $17,000 since April.
