Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Dad apparently killed 10-year-old son in murder-suicide (Nashville, North Carolina)

Dad is identified as JOSEPH CHRISTOPHER WILLIAMS. No word here on whether the parents had recently separated or what happened to the mother.

http://www.wral.com/sbi-investigating-deaths-of-father-son-in-nashville/12771373/

Father, son found in burning Nashville home had been shot

Nashville, N.C. — A 10-year-old boy and his father had been shot before they were found inside a burning apartment in Nashville on Monday afternoon, police said.

Police said Tuesday that it appears Joseph Christopher Williams shot his son multiple times before turning the gun on himself. When the apartment on North Lumber Street went up in flames, police found Williams and the boy inside.

Authorities have not said whether Williams intentionally set fire to the home.

Williams, 53, and his son, whose name was not released, both died on the way to a local hospital Monday.

The State Bureau of Investigation's arson unit traveled to Nashville on Tuesday to investigate their deaths. The Nash County Sheriff's Office is also assisting with the investigation.

Nashville police originally said the child was 13 years old and that Williams lived in Rocky Mount – both of which were corrected Tuesday.

Williams last made news in August 2012, when he and his wife, Cyndi Williams, were charged with 10 counts of animal cruelty after authorities removed 28 Great Danes, Mastiffs and Dobermans from outdoor kennels behind the couple's mobile home on Evansdale Road in Wilson.