Cops: Ky. Woman Killed Daughters, Self

(AP)  Police were still trying to determine Tuesday why a Louisville woman apparently stabbed her two school-age daughters to death and then shot herself.

A family member stopped by the house just before 7:30 p.m. EDT Monday and found the bodies, Louisville Metro Police spokeswoman Alicia Smiley said.

Investigators believe the woman killed her daughters then shot herself, Smiley said.

Jefferson County Deputy Coroner Bob Jones identified the mother as Hope Orwick, 35, who he said died of a gunshot wound to the head. The girls were Emily Orwick, 9, and Lindsey Orwick, 8.

Jones said both girls died of stab wounds but he couldn't say how many times they were stabbed. An autopsy was scheduled for Tuesday.

Two chaplains were at the scene Monday night, and Smiley said 15 or so family members gathered there. Police talked to relatives to see if they could help explain what may have led to the deaths.

Neighbor Mechelle Rockey, 48, told The Courier-Journal that she has lived across the street from the family for about six months. She said the two girls often played outside.

"They were the sweetest little girls," Rockey said. "They were cute as a button."

Neighborhood children were distraught over the girls' deaths, Rockey said.

"They all played together," she said.

[suemamma]

"Even if the story had 600 paragraphs telling every minute detail, there is absolutely no justification or excuse in killing children ,period."

I wasn''t trying to imply that any of what was done was justified, simply trying to understand where any sense of compassion has gone when it comes to others around us. We sit back and say "Oh, how awful. She must have been nuts to have done such a thing, what a horrible excuse for a mother." without even knowing why, as if it would make a difference in the outcome at this point. Either way the damage is done and we need not add insult to injury at anyone''s expense. I have 3 children of my own, a boy-4, 2 gilrs-7 and 9, so this really took me back. It kills me that children have to be drawn into their parents torment and can only hope that if this woman had felt there were any other choices, she would have gladly taken them over taking her life and the lives of her own children, but in this case obviously she didn''t. Children die too often at the hands of their parents and there is never any good that comes out of it and there certainly needn''t be more harm added to it for those left behind in the wake of it all. I am sure all three of them were loved and all three were lost and are grieved for. Why drag any of them through the mud, it only serves to perpetuate the rage and anguish it started with. May God rest their souls and bring peace to their families.

[momoftwp]

Way too many ignorant comments on here to address them one by one. I doubt any of you actually understand mental illness. This woman was OBVIOUSLY not thinking in a rational manner. It''s easy for you all to sit back and say...."she should have done this" or "I could never do that" or "well, if her family/friends would have been paying more attention this wouldn''t have happened." IGNORANT- every last comment like this! You don''t understand what depression can do. You don''t understand how well people can mask things. You don''t understand any of it!

Of course I''m not saying this is all ok. It''s horrifying. My heart is breaking for the entire family. I cannot imagine feeling so lost and depressed that this would seem like the only option. The truth is, we have no clue what was going on in her life and in her mind. I will not cast judgements.

[llcool43]

From mydiatribe: "Schools are obligated to advise children of signs to look out for that their parents may be on the verge of a meltdown."

So now its the school''s fault. Schools can''t teach everything, they might as well be the parents. Like the neighbors and families have stated "there wasn''t any signs of killing" until this weekeend when the mother wasn''t herself, but how could anybody have known she would do this. Now that it has happened, everybody needs to advise their children of what signs to look out for cause you could be the next one - DON''t GET IT TWISTED! Schools aren''t obligated..where in the school code does it state that "schools/teachers are also psychiatrists". This is a tragic that we all can learn from and if you know of anybody that has xperienced the death of a loved one by way of a tragic death, than be there for them, stay in contact with them and beware of any abnormal behavior- better yet, just be a listening ear for them. Eventually, the more a person confides in someone, than the chances are greater that their underlying pain and feelings will surface.
STAY in TUNE!!

[aggiekat2004]

Oh, and one other thing.

My grandmother was so hateful to me my whole life...she was nice to my face but then told others horrible things about me. She returned every gift I ever gave her. She complained that I didn''t come to see her enough. Thank you-s for gifts had to be written...a phone call wasn''t good enough.

So about five years ago, I cut her off. I quit talking to her. It was too much effort for too little in return.

It took about two years, and she''s more pleasant now. But it took me a couple of years of therapy to realize that she had blown past my boundaries, and that effort in didn''t equal what I got back.

[aggiekat2004]

I wish my 4 grown children would appreciate me more as a parent. I was young and raised them on my own...and didn''t stab them, cook them in a microwave or tie them in a car headed for a lake. They never even call to see if I am still breathing. Guess I should thank God they don''t come and kill me. ------------------------------

In my own experience, the more my grandmother complained about anything and everything I did, the less I wanted to come visit.

My fiancee''s mother...when she learned we got engaged...said "well, tell him that I need him to come fix my computer before he gets married, because I''m never going to see him anymore." No congratulations, nothing...and we''re on good terms.

For those of you who have kids that don''t want to come visit...ask yourself a question. When your kids visit, do you guilt them about not coming more often? Do you berate them for things that they did in the past? Do you criticize them for gaining weight, bad job decisions, or anything else?

If you make it a happy visit, they will want to come back. If you feel pushback, then seriously look within yourself to see if there''s something YOU''RE doing that may make them not want to come around.

[aggiekat2004]

"Aren%u2019t we proud of how judgmental and callous we can be at the drop of a hat, for any given tragedy?"
------------

I think it''s because we''re all tired of seeing tragedies like this, then watching the mother who survived claim a "mental illness" defense or say that "God made her kill her children."

We see this time and time again, and see these women get off with no punishment whatsoever.

Perhaps they''ll rot in hell for what they''ve done...but in my opinion their deaths couldn''t come too soon.

They''ll never get the death penalty, and the families never get peace.

[jankebenz]

Posted by SueMamma at 05:03 PM : Oct 07, 2008

Even if the story had 600 paragraphs telling every minute detail, there is absolutely no justification or excuse in killing children ,period. If this woman had enough of life then she at least could have left the children with family or the state like the father did with his kids a while back.

[suemamma]

It is likely that no one who posted the harsh, mind-numbingly insensitive comments earlier, has any more knowledge of what happened other than the six short paragraphs that were printed, with little to no information, than anyone else that has posted, including myself. Aren%u2019t we proud of how judgmental and callous we can be at the drop of a hat, for any given tragedy? How we can put aside our own sense of compassion and empathy as long as we can push our own selfish agenda? How knowing that knowing why and how something happened doesn%u2019t make it any less a tragedy, and turn it into something that gives us yet another opportunity to rip people we know nothing about apart on the world-wide web in front of every eye that crosses it. How the friends and families of those actually touched by this also get to see it picked apart and analyzed by hateful, bitter onlookers that have nothing to gain but a sense of their own self-worth out of the tragedy of others. My heart goes out to the lives lost to this horrific end to their short lives no matter what the cause and the ones left to clean up after the mess and heartache they are left with when something like this happens. Finally, my most sincere pity and contempt goes out to those that seek to gain some sense of pious gratification in pointing fingers and spitting blame and judgment out whenever people are at their lowest. It makes me glad to have a heart, even when it breaks over someone elses loss.

[docpeter1953]

I wish my 4 grown children would appreciate me more as a parent. I was young and raised them on my own...and didn''''''''t stab them, cook them in a microwave or tie them in a car headed for a lake. They never even call to see if I am still breathing. Guess I should thank God they don''''''''t come and kill me.

Posted by Bizzybirdy

_______________________

Jiminee, You sound as if you feel they OWE you something. My ex MIL was that way. completely ruined and had a terrible effect on my first marriage. Anytime my ex and i got ready to take a vacation her mom would have to go to hospital. Nothing ever wrong. I picked that one up within the first yeaar of our marriage, but not the ex. Her mom had already pre-programmed her.

Your kids don''t owe you anything. If you really feel like they do, then send them a bill.

[jamesetling4]

I wish my 4 grown children would appreciate me more as a parent. I was young and raised them on my own...and didn''''t stab them, cook them in a microwave or tie them in a car headed for a lake. They never even call to see if I am still breathing. Guess I should thank God they don''''t come and kill me. ------------------------------
Posted by Bizzybirdy

You should acknowledge that nobody forced you to have 4 kids. It was a mess that you got yourself into. Raising kids is hard work. Our planet is overpopulated. Wouldn''t hurt the world if everyone just stopped having kids for about 10 years.