Police: Couple who left Louisiana after hurricane die in murder-suicide; 2 children alive

<p>A New Orleans couple who had been chased from their home by Hurricane Katrina died in an apparent murder-suicide, leaving behind an infant and a severely injured 4-year-old boy.</p><p>Police entered the couple's rented home in the Atlanta suburb of Austell early Wednesday after a call from a relative in New Orleans.</p><p>The woman "said that her nephew had called her and stated that he had an argument with his wife and that she was hurt pretty bad, and in fact she was dead," said police Chief Bob Starrett.</p><p>Police Lt. Gordon Firth said they found the woman dead in the living room, and her injured son strapped in a nearby high chair.</p><p>A SWAT team found Jerome Spears, 28, in a back bedroom, dead of what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot.</p><p>Autopsies performed later Wednesday confirmed that cause of death for Spears and indicated that the woman, identified as 23-year-old Rachel Harris, died of multiple gunshot wounds.</p><p>Police believe Spears shot Harris in the head multiple times, then shot the boy in the head before calling his aunt in Louisiana. He then went upstairs and shot himself in the head. He left no note, Firth said. Police recovered two guns _ a .25 automatic and a .32 caliber pistol _ which they believe were used in the killings.</p><p>The boy was in stable condition Wednesday evening at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta after having surgery for a gunshot to the head, Firth said.</p><p>A 5-month old girl was uninjured, Starrett said.</p><p>Both children were to be turned over to the Department of Family and Children's Services.</p><p>Firth said the unmarried couple had lived in the rented house for about two months and police had no record of prior calls to that address. A string of Christmas lights still decorated the front porch Wednesday morning.</p><p>"The tragic thing is this 4-year-old boy most likely saw his mother killed and was (injured) and tied up right there where his mother was lying in a pool of blood," Starrett said. "It's as bad as it could get."</p><p>The names of the children were not immediately released. Starrett said authorities were having difficulty finding the couple's relatives because so many Louisiana residents scattered after the hurricane.</p>

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