Oak Hill, OH: Couple Dead in Oak Hill, Ohio Murder Suicide

OAK HILL, Oh. (WSAZ) -- A murder-suicide leaves a husband and wife dead and neighbors wishing they could have done more.

It all happened about 9:30 Wednesday night at the corner of Mill and Lincoln streets in Oak Hill, Ohio.

Oak Hill Police said 49-year-old Michael Carter shot his wife, 39-year-old Tina, several times. Then, he went to their home and shot and killed himself.

Much of this horrific scene unfolded in the middle of a neighborhood where neighbors watched the whole thing happen.

One neighbor, across the street, tried to send out a signal to Tina Carter offering her a lifeline, but it was too little too late.

“I had my front door open and I heard someone screaming, Help me! Help me! I heard a gunshot and she ran. She ran up on the neighbor's porch,” Carolyn Sharp said.

That's when Carolyn tried to signal her to safety.

“I was standing on my porch flickering my light on and off hoping she would come that way before he came around the corner. I tried to do what I could, but it didn’t help,” Sharp said.

Today, neighbors are reliving the whole thing trying to figure out what went wrong. Tina and Michael Carter and their two sons had lived in this home on Lincoln Street in Oak Hill for about fifteen years. No one ever remembers them fighting.

“I'm not aware of any domestic type problems at that location,” Chief Chris Gruber, Oak Hill Police Department said.

Rob Leonard is a neighbor and knew the carters well. It was his front porch where Tina was shot and left for dead.

Leonard said his family wasn't home at the time of the shooting. He arrived home just in time to see a dead body being carried off his porch.

He initially feared it was one of his four daughters, but received quick assurance that it was not.

But, there was another gruesome discovery to be made regarding Michael back at his home.

“We determined he was inside the residence and had sustained a gunshot and had passed away,” Chief Gruber said.

Without a doubt, it was a night this community won't soon forget.

Maybe the most tragic part of this is the two children left having to deal with the loss of both parents. According to neighbors, the couple's sons are around the ages of 16 and eight. They are now in the care of family.

Both bodies have been sent off for an autopsy.