SEATTLE — Quick facts:
- Grandfather, 78, shoots and kills adult daughter and grandaughter
- Ten-year-old boy runs and calls police
- Father alerted police after find daughter's blog alleging abuse
Child's blog details abuse from suspected shooter in 'horrific' murder-suicide
A 78-year-old man fatally shot his 39-year-old daughter and 11-year-old granddaughter before turning the gun on himself Monday night in South Seattle, police said. The mother's young son was the only one who survived the bloodshed inside the home.
According to authorities, police received a call from a 10-year-old boy who said his grandfather, Honorario Yango, brandished a handgun at the boy's mother and sister before shooting them. His grandfather then turned the gun on himself.
The boy ran and called 911. When police arrived, the man, his daughter, and granddaughter were dead.
Neighbors told KIRO 7 that the mother's name is Christine Dela Isla.
Neighbor Jerome Mannan says he saw a young boy leave the home Monday night, barefoot and limping.
"He was frightened, you could see that. I feel sorry for him because he looked traumatized," said Mannan. "The fact that three people are dead? That's horrific."
The father of the two children said he found his daughter's blog alleging abuse from the grandfather on Tuesday morning and called police. While he waited for a call back from Seattle Police Department, he received a call from another detective telling him about the deaths.
"When I Googled my daughter's name, the blog popped up," the father, Terrell Cowherd, said. "The only conclusion I can come to is that she must have actually got to the point where she was about to call police, and I guess that was his way of preventing her from doing so."
Terrell Cowherd believes what his daughter wrote is the horrible truth. She wrote "I'm Anahlia Cowherd … and I'm gonna bring justice to all girls who have been touched."
A blog post written by Anahlia, who was a fifth-grader at Aki Kurose Middle School, just hours earlier details fears of her grandfather.
"He threatened me … He actually threatened to KILL my family ... I'm so scared," she wrote.
In other posts, Anahlia detailed years of sexual abuse at the hands of her grandfather. She wrote "My mom said the next f------ time he does this she's gonna call the police."
Police have not released a motive as of Tuesday afternoon. Seattle Mayor Ed Murray rushed to the house to join police after the shooting.
"Three citizens of this city are dead, and it involves guns," Murray said.
The boy is staying with relatives, and KIRO 7 found no criminal history for the grandfather. Below is the text of a letter sent to members of the Aki Kurose community, where the granddaughter went to middle school.
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