Father copes with shooting deaths of twin daughters in Tulsa

Updated 11:40 pm ET

TULSA, Okla. Four women were found shot dead inside an apartment in south Tulsa on Monday afternoon, with a three-year-old boy as the only survivor, CBS affiliate KOTV Tulsa reported.

Now a father is coming to grips with losing his twin daughters, whom police identified as Rebeika Powell, 23, and Kayetie Melchor, 23, as among the four victims.

"My life's gone. My kids are gone," said Larry Powell.

Tulsa police said the four women were discovered around noon, within an hour of being shot. Aside from Powell and Melchor, the other two victims identified by police were Misty Nunley, 33, and Julie Jackson, 55. The three-year-old boy may have witnessed his mother's death.

"The little baby, you know, he had to sit there all day and look at what they did. How could you do something like that?" asked Larry Powell.

Powell's son died from the flu in 2003 and now his remaining children are gone. "You've got nothing left," said Powell. "All I've got are my two little grand kids and what am I going to do? Their parents are gone. My granddaughter is going crazy over there right now."

Neighbor Gail Barton knew some of the women who were killed. "They were all so lively and fun and beautiful, really were beautiful girls," she said and added: "To take such beauty and life away from so many people and to harm so many family members in the process and for what? Money?"

Tulsa police spokesman Leland Ashley said Tuesday that detectives and officers were "beating the bushes" to figure out what happened at the apartment, where police also found an unharmed 3-year-old boy. Police said he was taken into protective custody but released no other information.

"Right now, we have no clear-cut suspect," Ashley said, urging anyone with information to come forward.

"I don't want to strike fear in the community tonight, but we do have an individual or individuals who murdered four people," he added. "Do we know if there was a motive, like a jealous lover? We don't know that. We can't say if it was random or if someone knew (the victims)."

Relatives and neighbors have told Nunley's family there may have been a romantic spat between one of the women who lived at the apartment and a boyfriend or ex-boyfriend. Police wouldn't comment on those rumors.

[Gershom2012]

Tulsa is awash in illegal narcotics. This was (I suspect) drug-related as in someone forgot to pay their dealer.

[JV1970]

There is something odd that just struck me about this horrible situation. It is the fact that these two beautiful twin daughters were likely conceived together and they were in the womb together and they were born the same day and in the same place and likely within minutes of each other. That is exactly the way they died. They died together and in the same place and within minutes, probably seconds, of each other.

[stamicrach]

Yje powers that be in this country seem to have a distinct aversion to treating those who are mentally ill.

The primary reason for this is that treatment of these people costs too much.

How many of our returning troops have PTSD.

How many of these troops were sent back to war in repeated deployments with PTSD.?

Why has there been such an increase in suicide among military personnel.??

Why has the terrorist who killed, maimed and wounded all those involved in the "workplace incident" (Obama's refereral to this) at Fort Hood being allowed to go on living after this treacherous act.??

BTW; I do not think he should be executed, but confined to a small cell in solitary confinement for the rest of his days.

To execute him would make him a martyr in the eyes of other Islamics (and not just those who are terrorists.).

No one who has never tried to get help for a mentally ill person has any idea how hard it is to get this help.

In the State where I live; doctors are reluctant to diagnose anyone as mentally ill.

You must have the signatures of two doctors to have someone committed or even held for a competency hearing.

If the person is not deemed a threat to himself or others; no matter how irrational his/her speech or behavior; the hands of the police are tied.

A mentally ill person can refuse their meds, and no one has the right to force them to do so.

We have a war on drugs here in the US.

What we need is a war on mental illness; so those who are mentally ill can get the treatment they need without having to harm themselves or someone else or bankrupt their families in the slim chance they can be committed to the few facilities that are available.

If we spent as much time, energy and money on helping those who are mentally ill as we do pouring money down the rat-holes of countries that hate us; we might have far fewer mass shootings, murders, or even fewer child molesters killing innocents.

We already have laws and regulations on the books that are "supposed" to prevent any one considered mentally ill from securing a weapon

I would need more than both hands to count the number of people I know who are mentally ill and own anywhere from one to 15 weapons.

We need more enforcement of these laws; regardless of the cost of apprehending, confining or treating those who are mentally ill; not more gun laws.!

I'm not a big fan of studies or committees doing research on the number of mentally ill people walking around.

But a recent study indicates that fully 1/3 of homeless people are mentally ill/

When and until we have the resources to treat them and all of our troops who have PTSD; we are going to continue experiencing tragedies such as those that occurred in Connecticut.!!

[Type_Z]

Amen Friend.

[daiseylu]

Firing a gun stops a person dead in their tracks..it doesn't matter who is shooting...there is NO WAY you can keep the guns out of the Mentally ills hands..or for that matter anyones hands..those who want to own a gun can get any gun ilegally..that is proven over and over..daily..something has to give, and it for sure isn't going to please everyone...maybe get rid of the guns..

[Type_Z]

You will never get rid of all the guns.

[JV1970]

This dad is wrong! He DOES have something left! He has two beautiful grandchildren who need him! They just lost their mothers and the article doesn't say but I assume their fathers aren't in the picture. Their grandpa is all they have and they need him!

[Type_Z]

Horrible, he lost all three of his children, you saw he lost a son previous to his daughters. A tough, tough situation. Poor man. Hope he can recover enough to care for his grand kids. They need him.

[46tallison]

WE must reject the idea that every time a law's broken, society is guilty rather than the law breaker. It's time to restore the precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.... Ronald Reagan

[Zumbasta]

WE must reject the idea that we have the right to bear battlefield arms (assault weapons, grenades, rocket launchers, etc.)in our society! WE must accept that less damage would be done by those who we cannot stop if they didn't bear battlefield arms. WE must also reject the idea of arming teachers-- haven't we burdened them enough? They're already psycologists, parents, social workers, etc...and they get no respect to boot! WE must accept that in this country most individuals do NOT feel accountable for their actions. That's reality!

[chevyhotrod]

"WE must accept that in this country most individuals do NOT feel accountable for their actions."
So there you have it, no responsibility, no action, nothing will get done, just deal with it.

[bodettes]

How come we don't hear stories about all these gun owners who have protected themselves by shooting the criminals that have come to rob or kill them? I feel very sad about what's happened with guns/automatic weapons that I am worried about travelling around the country as a vacationer.

[LuFranco72]

Hold on, are you aware of EVERY news story that involves guns? There are thousands of reported and unreported incidents that involves home owners defending themselves and their loved ones every day. Just yesterday, there was a story of a Homeowner who heard a noise in his home, grabbed his gun and found a naked man, high on drugs attempting to strangle the family's dog! The intruder jumped at the homeowner and bit him, so the Homeowner shot the man (not fatally) and held him until Police arrived. It sounds like there's more to this story; sounds like there was malicious intent here and if they wanted to hurt the women there, it could have also been done with a kitchen knife.

[RKMctrog007]

they do run a story now and again. it is ran by the local paper and every now and then by a major media for an hour or so.
Anything bad though is ran for days on any medis that gets it's hands on it.
it is a double standard world people and the media only likes to run stuff that draws readers, usually mass murders and the like.

LuFranco72
I would have loved to have heard that one, shame the major medias ignored it or just made a small blurb about it.

can't have peole thinking that gun ownership might be a good thing can we? It goes against everything liberal.

[mari1963]

What do you mean the grand children have no other family? Where are the father's of these children?

[mandiegracetaylor]

I think the grieving grandfather's son who died from the flu might have been one of the fathers to his older grandchild - the 3 year old's father is probably running like hell because he did it.

[JV1970]

mandiegracetaylor No, both of the children belonged to the twins who were killed. The older grandchild is only four. The four year old was the only witness to this massacre too. He was in the apartment when the incident happened. For some unknown reason the gunman let him live. I assume the child was probably hiding somewhere and the gunman didn't see him.

[Jstargazer46]

A gun was USED to kill these people. A gun did not decide to run over and shoot them....a PERSON did. Had he or she NOT had a gun, he could have stabbed, beaten, burned in a fire or strangled them. Blame the killer, not the weapon.

[dgammons]

'JSTARGAZER46' No one is blaming the gun. But you must admit, the proliferation of guns, the access to certain guns, is part of the problem. If this guy had used a g.r.e.n.a.d.e, it wouldn't have been it's fault either! The most recent grand scale mass shootings were executed apparently by a guy who took his mother's firearms because he had 'access'. Every background check in the world wouldn't have stopped him because he never applied for a gun. No amount of laws would have stopped him. But, perhaps a ban on Bushmaster's would have given some victims more chance of living if all he had used were the handguns.

[Zumbasta]

Really? Common sense isn't your friend if you believe 4 people couldn't defend and overpower a strangler. They could even escape a knife attack. Bullets? Not quite so. An assault weapon? Not a chance!

Cars do not kill people; drivers do! But we have speed limits and many laws to protect us on the road. Not just roads, we have so many air safety laws it's unbelievable...can't even take my water in the plane! Yet all those objects used to create hazard in the air do not kill; terrorists do! I have the right to bear arms...but it shouldn't by ANY type of arms. I shouldn't be allowed to buy rocket launchers, assault weapons, grenades, etc. Those are for the battlefield; not homes.

[stephhaney]

Do drug laws keep them out of the hands of any person at all? Absolutely not. All gun laws are going to do is to leave law abiding citizens unprotected from the criminals who still are going to have them. Lets address that first, then we can talk about control.

[dgammons]

People have a better chance of running from a knife. Don't blame the gun but don't defend it either.