PRICEVILLE, Ala. — A man shot and killed his estranged wife, their teenage daughter and two other relatives in rural north Alabama before returning to his home in a nearby town and killing himself the day before their divorce trial, authorities said Tuesday.
Kevin Garner’s body was found Tuesday afternoon near his home in Priceville, which burned to the ground overnight, said Travis Clemmons, chief investigator for the Lauderdale County sheriff’s office. He said Garner apparently shot himself in the chest.
Earlier in the day, authorities had found the other four bodies in a home in Green Hill, a small community near the Tennessee line in a nearby county. Those bodies were identified as Garner’s estranged wife, Tammy, 40; their 16-year-old daughter, Chelsie; and Garner’s sister and the sister’s 11-year-old son, Clemmons said. He identified the sister as Karen Beaty of Illinois but did not have other information about her and the slain boy.
He said the four were shot, apparently with a handgun. Investigators said the killings happened around midnight Monday.
It was one of eight mass shootings around the country in the last month that have left nearly 60 people dead. Three of the shootings have been in Alabama.
In the divorce file, Tammy Garner sought custody of their daughter and alleged that her husband “has been both physically and emotionally abusive.” He accused her of adultery.
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