Deaths of Kearns mom, kids are called murder-suicide

WEST VALLEY CITY — The family of Sharon Al-Shimmary said they knew she was battling depression, but they never imagined it would come to this.

Salt Lake County sheriff's investigators say the deaths of 40-year-old Sharon Al-Shimmary and her three children, Ashley, 9; Christopher, 7; and Heather, 2, were the result of a murder-suicide.

"We're just shocked and hurt and dealing with the pain," said Sharon's brother, Bruce Harper.

An initial autopsy supported the conclusion of homicide detectives that the deaths were the result of murder-suicide, Sheriff's Lt. Paul Jaroscak said. Other evidence included the fact the door to the bedroom where all the victims were found was locked from the inside. Firefighters had to break through the door to enter. Also, there was no sign of forced entry into the house, Jaroscak said.

"There were other items found in the house that support that (murder-suicide) theory that we're not ready to discuss," he said.

Investigators Monday would not release a possible cause of death, only saying there were no obvious signs of trauma on the children. Jaroscak declined to comment on whether the same could be said for Sharon Al-Shimmary. Detectives wanted to wait for toxicology tests to be completed before releasing causes of death for each person. That could take several weeks.

The bodies of Al-Shimmary and her children were found inside a bedroom at their house near 5700 South and 5500 West after firefighters were called at 11:50 a.m. Sunday to a house fire. The mother and one child were found on a bed. The other two children were found on the floor. All windows in the room were shut. The Unified Fire Authority confirmed Monday the fire was intentionally set inside the room by someone igniting a flammable liquid on the floor. By the time firefighters arrived, it was too late.

"There was no chance to revive them," Jaroscak said.

One of the biggest questions Monday for investigators was whether the children were alive when the fire was started.

Family members in mourning Monday simply wanted to know, "Why?"

"It hurts. We definitely have the question, 'Why the children?'" said Harper. "We just don't understand. We're trying to deal with it."

Family members say Al-Shimmary hadn't been the same since her 3-year-old son, Joshua, died of influenza-A a couple of years ago.