Mother kills husband and 2 sons in murder-suicide at Texas resort

A 37-year-old Texas woman fatally shot her two sons and her husband early Monday before taking her own life in a murder-suicide at a beachfront hotel, authorities say.

The family from Baytown had checked into the San Luis Resort in Galveston, about 35 miles away, just hours before. Officers were called to the hotel and found the man and two boys in bed with apparent gunshot wounds, and the woman was found on the floor, also with a gunshot wound.

KHOU identified the couple as Flor de Maria Pineda and her husband Mauricio Morales, 39. Mauricio Jr., 10, and 5-year-old son David were also in the hotel room, according to the station.

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"She was very friendly," Baytown neighbor Shirley Davis told KHOU. "She waved at us. Her husband was very friendly. And Daniel and Mauricio they would ride their little bicycles, little tricycles on my driveway and if they saw me outside they would get off those bikes and come hug me. (It) meant more than a lot just to see the little young people so in love with you."

When police arrived at the scene at the hotel, the door was locked from the inside and cops heard "faint moaning," according to KHOU.

The mother and one of the children were "unresponsive but still appeared to be alive" and were taken to a hospital where they both died, according to Galveston police Capt. Josh Schirard.

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Cops said no issues were apparent before the family checked into the hotel, and nothing about the condition of the room indicated there was a struggle.

"It’s definitely not one of those things we experience here in Galveston very often and that this community has to experience very often," Capt. Schirard told KHOU. "Neither is it one of those things that a family will ever want to have to experience."

With News Wire Services