CINCINNATI — A mother and her two sons are dead after an apparent murder-suicide in Avondale early Friday morning, Cincinnati police said.
CPD responded to a home on Canyon Drive around 5:30 a.m. for a report of an "unknown trouble dispatch." When they arrived, officers discovered the three inside the home each dead from a gunshot wound.
Police identified the deceased as 38-year-old Darlene Flores, 19-year-old Eric Johnson Jr. and 16-year-old Rodrigo Johnson.
Police are investigating the deaths as a "double homicide with a suicide," and on Monday said they believe Eric Johnson Jr. shot his mother and brother before he took his own life.
Two men who said they were best friends with Eric Johnson Jr. were outside the home Friday after one saw a text from Eric Johnson Jr. around 6 a.m. When Timyone Andrew got to the home Friday morning, he said family members confirmed his friend was dead.
"My friend called around 5 o'clock this morning saying that he loved us and he's sorry, (and) he misses his sister," Andrew said.
A friend shared a photo of Eric Johnson Jr. with us. He said Eric sent a group text this morning to friends, "saying that he loved us and that he's sorry, he misses his sister." @WCPO pic.twitter.com/rhVgDa8sxE
— Madeline Ottilie (@OttilieMadeline) February 3, 2023
Andrew said they were with Eric Johnson Jr. Thursday night.
"This is like my second family. Like really my second home," Andrew said. "We come here every day after school. Like everybody knows that. It's us, like it's always just us together."
Andrew said Eric Johnson Jr. was mourning the loss of his 6-year-old sister, who he said was killed by their father this past summer. In August 2022, Ilya Johnson was murder by 40-year-old Eric Johnson before he took his own life.
"That's his world. That was his world," Andrew said. "He loved her more than anything like losing her just destroyed my boy deep down."
Flores' parents started a GoFundMe to help cover funeral expenses for their daughter and two grandsons, less than 6 months after launching a GoFundMe for their granddaughter Iyla.
CPD is asking that anyone with any information regarding this incident call CPD's Homicide Unit at 513-352-3542.
This is a developing story and will be updated once more information becomes available.
