Star-Telegram / Rodger Mallison
Parker County Sheriff's Deputy Eric Lee stops family and friends from going into the mobile home in Hudson Oaks where a woman and three children were discovered dead Tuesday morning.
A 25-year-old mother and her three daughters were hung to death early this morning by articles of clothing inside the closet of a mobile home in Parker County, victims of a possible murder-suicide, Parker County Sheriff Larry Fowler said.
But an 8-month-old girl who also was discovered hanging in the home was rescued by the mother’s sister. She discovered the bodies early Tuesday.
The child was in good condition at Cook Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth, said Winifred King, a hospital spokeswoman.
“By virtue of the fact that the 8-month-old was alive, I think this all occurred shortly before they were found,’’ Fowler said.
Officials could not confirm that the woman was in a custody battle with the father of the children, ages 5, 3 and 2. There was no suicide note, Fowler said, but investigators were probing the possibility that she hung the children before taking her own life.
“We may never know, but we’ll do our best to try to establish her state of mind,” Fowler said.
Neighbors indentifed the woman as Gilberta Estrada.
Fowler said the bodies were found in a makeshift closet and that they were hanging from a 2x4.
The woman’s sister found the bodies at about 6:25 a.m. at the Oak Hill Mobile Home Park, Fowler said. The park is just off of Interstate 20, between Hudson Oaks and Willow Park, and about a mile south of Lake Weatherford. An employee at Wendy’s restaurant where the mother worked called the woman’s sister and said she did not show up for work Tuesday morning, Fowler said. The sister, who lives at the same mobile home park, went to her sister’s home to check on her, Fowler said.
“She heard the baby crying or gurgling, struggling, and that’s what caught her attention,’’ Fowler said. “She said the sound was coming from a large closet in the mobile home that had a sheet or bedspread covering it.
“She looked in there, saw what happened and took the baby down.’’
The sister then summoned help, Fowler said.
The mother and the three other daughters were already dead, the sheriff said. They were found hanging from what appeared to be articles of clothing, suspended from a clothes rod.
Filly Echeverria, who identified herself as the children’s godmother, said their mother was a strong woman who worked hard to support her family.
Echeverria said the mother had called her early Tuesday morning and she was very distraught over something, but she gave no indication she was about to do something drastic.
Fowler said a man believed to be the father of some or all of the children had been contacted and was being brought to the scene. The sheriff declined to release the names of the victims, but he said that some of the children had different last names.
A steady rain covered the area, as grieving friends and family, some weeping, came to the scene and were ushered away from reporters by sheriff’s deputies.
Because the girl’s classmates were so young, school officials did not inform the children of the girl’s death but notified parents so that they could tell their children about the tragedy, Daniel said.
However, district counselors will be on hand Wednesday to help children in the girl’s class as well as other neighborhood children who may have known the girl or her family, he said.
“Most of the parents we notified were aware because they live in a close-knit neighborhood,” Daniel said. “We felt it was best that the parents notify the children.”
Daniel said Coder Principal Jason Beaty held a staff meeting Tuesday to prepare the staff to help their children cope with the tragedy.
“They were all in shock this morning,” he said. “I don’t know whether they’re emotionally ready to discuss it yet. Mr. Beaty was quite distraught this morning as was the whole staff.”
Beaty said the child’s teacher also was grieving.
“My teacher put her heart and soul in to helping our student and sharing her triumphs,” he said. “All of our thoughts and prayers are with the family. Something like this is hard to fathom.”
The scene also attracted other bystanders, including employees of Mary Martin Elementary School in Weatherford.
One first-grade teacher noted that Hudson Oaks suffered a similar tragedy in July 2002 when Dee Etta Perez, 39, fatally shot two sons ages 10 and 9 and a 4-year-old daughter before taking her own life. She also severely wounded her husband, Manuel ``Manny’’ Perez, who is a captain in the Fort Worth Fire Department.
The teacher, who declined to give her name, said she taught the Perez children.
“I hate summer,’’ she said. “There’s always so many children that have such family problems. These parents can’t cope in the summer.’’
Brett Ross, 22, said he lives a few doors down from the mother and her daughters, but he didn’t really know them.
“I don’t really know what to think right now because I don’t know exactly what happened,’’ he said. “But, anything like this that happens, when there is a woman and kids involved, it’s obviously disturbing.
“It’s quite upsetting.’’
Staff writers Bill Miller, Martha Deller, Elizabeth Campbell and correspondent Gale Bradford contributed to this report.
Deanna Boyd, 817-390-7655
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