The deaths of a family of four -- two parents and their young sons -- in New Jersey earlier this week have been ruled a case of murder-suicide, authorities said Friday.
Prosecutors say 35-year-old Lyndon Shane Beharry killed his 29-year-old wife Amanda Morris and his two sons, 4-year-old Brian and 7-year-old Brandon Beharry, in a second-floor bedroom of the family's Long Branch home, then set fire to the house and killed himself in the same bedroom.
The cause of death for the woman and children is pending additional investigation, but authorities say all three victims had injuries consistent with gunshot wounds.
It wasn't clear if they were killed by gunshot wounds or the fire, which authorities had immediately deemed suspicious because there were several blazes set throughout the Joline Avenue home late Tuesday.
The investigation into the murder-suicide is ongoing. A neighbor said the husband and wife had a major argument Tuesday night before the fire, though the nature of that argument wasn't clear.
That night, someone called 911 to report a fire. Police officers were the first to respond to the scene, but heavy smoke and flames kept them from entering the home. Firefighters and police eventually found the family of four in the second-floor bedroom and took them to the hospital, where they died.
The fire escalated to two alarms before the flames were extinguished. No other homes were damaged and no other injuries were reported.
Prosecutors said Lyndon Beharry was a 16-year veteran of the Long Branch Department of Public Works.
"He was an excellent mechanic and a very good-natured person," department director Fred Migliaccio told the Asbury Park Press.
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