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Mother Kills Husband, Two Kids, Herself

MESQUITE (CBS 11 NEWS) – The deaths of four people found shot to death in Mesquite early Wednesday have now been ruled murder-suicide.  And it appears the family matriarch pulled the trigger.  The big question is, why?

Crime scene investigators and technicians were back for a second day, looking for evidence to explain why Angelica Vazquez took the lives of her husband and children...and then herself.

Rickey Moreland and other neighbors can't believe an outwardly fine family would meet such a tragic end.

"I'm very surprised. This is unbelieveable. These are some great neighbors," he told CBS 11 News.  "Sweet family...just really shocked, real nice family," he added.

But Mesquite Police and the Dallas County Medical Examiner say 43-year-old Angelica Vazquez took her own life after killing her husband, Marcelo, 44, her 21-year-old daughter Paulina, and 18-year-old son Alejandro.

Marcelo is said to be a long-haul truck driver; Paulina was a sophomore at the University of North Texas studying criminal justice and living in Denton, but apparently came home during Spring Break. Alejandro was at his second semester at Eastfield College taking required preparatory courses for a 4-year degree, according to officials there.  Angelica reportedly worked for the Mesquite ISD, but officials with the district couldn't confirm that due to computers being down during spring break.

Few in their East Mesquite neighborhood want to believe what's happened.

"Nice family," repeated Moreland, "Just business people taking care of business not causing any problems, just doing what they're supposed to.  Just like every family around here."

Erin Ebikefe is the Vazquez's other next door neighbor. "It's very scary because we just moved here, we've been here for, like, a year.  Because where I lived in Dallas I never seen this kind of stuff before."

She summed up what a lot of people seem to be thinking.  "It don't make no sense to me," she said.

Police say detectives are still trying to determine a motive for the shootings.

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