Article: Warning signs that could lead to murder-suicide

Shana Rose Reporting
The funeral is today for the mother and three children found dead in the Kenner after a murder-suicide. As the horrific deaths of 3 children at the hands of their mother continues to haunt the community, people continue to ask, 'How does something like this happen?'

How does an involved, loving mother who regularly brings cookies to her daughter's school, do something so tragic? Dr. Howard Osofsky, Professor and Chairman of Psychiatry at LSU Health Sciences Center says, "The person may appear to be functioning for a considerable periods of time and then switch into having these delusions, hallucinations, ideas that the world would be better off without her and her children."

He says families can spot the warning signs and first talk to the person about it, as they are often receptive to that. The next step is to reach out to numerous support organizations and suicide hotlines, including LSU, which has 24 hour staff available.

The LSU Health Sciences help line is 512-568-8772, which has staff available 24 hours a day. You may also be able to call 211 for information on help available, depending on what services are available in the area you live.

Dr. Osofsky says the best thing to do is to talk to the person first, because they are often looking for a connection or are relieved to learn that others see what's going on. " There's this fantasy that if you ask someone who is really down or suicidal that they will become more suicidal. That isn't correct. Often it's helpful to the individual to recognize that others are seeing some of this and that help is available."

The family has made it clear that today's services are for only close family and friends.

Listen to Shana's interview of Dr. Osofsky.
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Kenner Police Chief Steve Caraway says that his department's probe into the deaths has concluded the shootings were the result of a murder-suicide, and the mother was apparently distraught. He said emails to their pastor showed that 29 year old Nadia Braxton was having anxiety issues. "We learned that she had been communicating with her pastor, telling him that she had been suffering from serious bouts of anxiety, depression and that she was feeling hopeless."

Her children, Kayla, Nayah and Nyla Peters ranged in age from 12 years to six months.

Kenner police say they found Braxton lying across the children on a bed, all suffering from gunshot wounds. Her husband discovered the bodies when he came home from work that day.