Although police have not said it, it appears a 19-year-old North Carolina man suffering mental health issues shot his mother and girlfriend to death earlier this week before killing himself.
Search warrants indicate that police found Erica Holton, 54, and Aminah Guy, 19, dead in the living room of Holton’s home in Cary. Her son, Xavier Holton, was found dead in a bathroom upstairs, a handgun in the sink, WNCN reported.
Holton’s husband, identified in the documents as Shawn Certain, called 911 when he arrived home from work on Monday, telling dispatchers he found his wife “on the ground” and went to a neighbor’s to call police, as CrimeOnline reported.
“I don’t know what’s going on,” he said.
The search warrant documents say Certain, Xavier Holton’s stepfather, told police he was on the phone with his wife when he heard some kind of disturbance and two “loud pops” before the call dropped. He was unable to reach Erica Holton again.
Certain also told police that his stepson could be a suspect, saying he’d recently had suicidal thoughts and mentioned buying a firearm. Guy’s mother told WRAL something similar, saying that her daughter had told her of her boyfriend’s recent symptoms.
“He was hearing voices and things like that,” Angela Guy said.
Cary Police declined to say mental health was a factor in the three deaths but said Angela Guy and Certain had told them of their suspicions. They have also not said if Xavier Holton is suspected of a double murder-suicide.
Investigators also said that Xavier Holton attempted suicide earlier this month, driving more than 100 mph and crashing into a parked car along Interstate 440 on November 8. The crash caused both vehicles to burst into flames, and Holton was admitted briefly to a mental health facility in Garner.
“It just seems like [mental health issues] are so prevalent nowadays,” Guy said. “Especially with men. Like, it’s okay to go to therapy, just reach out, before it’s too late.”
Certain told WNCN that the family had been trying to get help for the 19-year-old man.
“From this tragedy, we can hopefully see the light, and help anybody, and do what we can so this situation won’t happen again for nobody else, because this is really, really a bad situation right now for us and we don’t want that to happen to nobody else,” he said.
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[Featured image: Aminah Guy/GoFundMe and Erica Holton/Facebook]
