Mom suspected of killing husband, 2 sons, herself was depressed, friend says
A woman who authorities say killed her husband and two sons before killing herself had been struggling with depression, a friend of the woman told CBS affiliate KHOU. "I know she was under a bad depression," Leonila Olivares said of Flor de Maria Pineda. "She would discuss this with other members of the church and I know she was going through something something that was really bad."
Pineda was part of Olivares' ministry at Iglesia Christo Viene in Baytown several years ago, according to Olivares, who said the two had tried recently to go into business together.
"We were just in shock and I think a lot of us are still in denial because this is someone that was always seeking the word of God," Olivares said. "She was always teaching and always being a leader and not only by word but by action."
KHOU reported earlier this week that Pineda, husband Mauricio Morales, their 10-year-old son Mauricio, Jr. and 5-year-old son David all died on the eighth floor of the San Luis hotel in Galveston Monday.
Galveston police Capt. Josh Schirard said the family from Baytown about 35 miles north of Galveston checked in Sunday evening at the San Luis Resort. Police were summoned to the upscale 250-room hotel on the Gulf of Mexico after a guest in a nearby room on the eighth floor called police at about 4:30 a.m. and reported popping sounds. Officers entered the locked room and found the man and two boys in bed with apparent gunshot wounds and the woman on the floor, also with a gunshot wound.
When police arrived at the room, the door was dead-bolted from the inside and they heard "faint moaning," KHOU reported. The woman and one of the children were "unresponsive but still appeared to be alive" and were taken to a hospital where they both died, Schirard said, adding that neither was ever able to speak.
"A motive is unknown at this time, but forensic data collected at the scene indicated the female is believed to be the shooter at this time before apparently taking her own life with a 9 mm handgun found adjacent to her body," Schirard has said. "There's no indication or evidence that there are any other persons involved or that there are any other suspects still at large."
Authorities said no issues were apparent before the family checked in, and nothing about the condition of the room indicated there was a struggle.
"My heart goes out to the rest of their family, their extended family, their community and our community, the ones that don't have the training to deal with this and have to be exposed to an event like this," Schirard said.
Olivares, who has five boys of her own, believes that Pineda sought treatment for depression.
"She was very friendly," Shirley Davis, a neighbor, said of Pineda. "She waved at us. Her husband was very friendly. And Daniel and Mauricio they would ride their little bicycles, little tricycles on my driveway and if they saw me outside they would get off those bikes and come hug me. (It) meant more than a lot just to see the little young people so in love with you."
