Texas mother hangs herself, 3 children

**Illiy** · 05-29-07, 10:18 PM

Texas mother hangs herself, 3 children

By ANGELA K. BROWN, Associated Press Writer
51 minutes ago

HUDSON OAKS, Texas - A young mother who may have been depressed apparently hanged three of her small daughters and herself in a closet using pieces of clothing and sashes, authorities said Tuesday. A fourth child, an 8-month-old daughter, was also found dangling in the closet but was rescued from the family's mobile home.

"It's horrendous. That's all I can say," Parker County Sheriff Larry Fowler said.

The woman was identified as Gilberta Estrada, 25. The infant, Evelyn Frayre, was in good condition at a hospital, Fowler said. Authorities did not immediately identify the other children, ages 5, 3 and 2.

After Estrada failed to show up for work, her sister, who lived nearby, forced her way into the locked residence in the Oak Hills mobile home park, about 25 miles west of Fort Worth in this rural community of 1,600 people.

The sheriff said the sister rescued the infant when she realized the baby girl was still alive.

The sheriff said the hangings appeared to be murder-suicide because the trailer's doors were locked from the inside and a relative said the woman had been depressed.

The young mother and her girls were last seen alive Monday evening, he said.

The sheriff said Estrada had won a temporary restraining order in August against Gregorio Frayre Rodriguez, who was believed to be the father of the infant and some of the other children, after an attack on Estrada.

The sheriff said Estrada and Rodriguez had stopped living together in February. Tuesday was the first emergency police call to Estrada's trailer, and authorities said there was no evidence that Rodriguez abused the girls.

A telephone listing for Rodriguez could not immediately be located.

"I just got a big kick out of watching the kids play over there on her porch, and today it's sad, very sad," neighbor Joyce Harris said as other trailer park residents milled about on their porches, some crying and talking softly about the deaths.

Estrada's trailer was dilapidated, with paint peeling off the brown and white mobile home. Cactus plants and a rose bush decorated the front. Toys and a bicycle littered the back yard.

Texas has seen a number of child killings by mothers in recent years.

Less than five years earlier, another Hudson Oaks family was torn apart when Dee Etta Perez, 39, shot her three children, ages 4, 9 and 10, before killing herself.

Andrea Yates drowned her five children in the family's Houston bathtub in 2001. In 2003, Deanna Laney beat her two young sons to death with stones in East Texas, and Lisa Ann Diaz drowned her daughters in a Plano bathtub. Dena Schlosser fatally severed her 10-month-old daughter's arms with a kitchen knife in 2004.

All four of those women were found innocent by reason of insanity. Yates initially was convicted of capital murder, but that verdict was overturned on appeal.

**iso607** · 05-29-07, 10:29 PM

Originally Posted by Illiy

:

All four of those women were found innocent by reason of insanity. Yates initially was convicted of capital murder, but that verdict was overturned on appeal.[/FONT]

This is what really makes me sick.

The mother almost got it right this time. She should have performed her killings in reverse order though.

**Illiy** · 05-29-07, 10:37 PM

Originally Posted by iso607

This is what really makes me sick.

The mother almost got it right this time. She should have performed her killings in reverse order though.

No kidding... I don't understand what goes thru their heads...

can you imagine being the baby and having to grow up knowing that your mother killed herself and your sisters... and for whatever reason you survived? Talk about therapy!

**Willowdared** · 05-29-07, 11:09 PM

Very tragic.

On a side note....

You might want to pm a Mod, and ask that this be moved to the News section.

**Illiy** · 05-29-07, 11:14 PM

Originally Posted by PDawg

Very tragic.

On a side note....

You might want to pm a Mod, and ask that this be moved to the News section.

Sorry didn't know there were sections... thanks!

**conalabu** · 05-29-07, 11:18 PM

Originally Posted by Illiy

Sorry didn't know there were sections... thanks!

Taken care of, Illiy.

**Illiy** · 05-29-07, 11:24 PM

Originally Posted by conalabu

Taken care of, Illiy.

Thanks... I was trying to figure that one out too!

**TXCharlie** · 05-30-07, 01:50 AM

Some sick shit...

Here's a picture of those poor little girls who got murdered, and some video clips to the Sheriff's interviews are on the web site:

http://www.nbc5i.com/news/13403959/detail.html

More images of the girls & mother
Helicopter images of Crime Scene
Three Girls, Mother Found Dead In Parker Co. Home

Police Find Baby Girl Hanged But Alive

POSTED: 9:00 am CDT May 29, 2007
UPDATED: 4:29 pm CDT May 29, 2007

PARKER CO., Texas -- Three girls and their 23-year-old mother were found dead Tuesday morning at a mobile home in what police called a suspected triple murder-suicide in unincorporated Parker County just north of Hudson Oaks.

The mother's sister, who lives across the street, checked on the family at about 6:30 a.m. in the 100 block of Oak Hill Drive after the mother didn't show up for work. The sister contacted police after she heard noises coming from a closet in the locked trailer, apparently the sounds of the infant struggling in her noose, Parker County Sheriff Larry Fowler said.

**Willowdared** · 05-30-07, 10:50 AM

Prayers for the family, and all the first responders.

I know how hard it can be to take that call, dispatch it, and how much harder it would be to respond.

**Resident Smart Ass** · 05-30-07, 11:50 AM

Yeah, when I saw this on the news, my stomach just turned. I have a new born and I can't imagine hurting him in any way. These people are just selfsih. You wanna go kill yourself, go ahead, be my guest. But don't take any innocent young people with you!

Prayers for the 8month girl that survived