Latasha Nicole Washington, 40, was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a Marriott Residence Inn in southwest Houston, with her 6-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter deceased beside her. Hotel staff discovered the bodies on Friday after no one had been heard from in the room since the previous Wednesday.
The Harris County Medical Examiner identified Washington and has preliminarily ruled the incident a murder-suicide, with officials suggesting mental health issues may have been a factor. The medical examiner's office recorded the trio's time of death as 11:55 a.m. on Wednesday, though the exact time of death is unconfirmed. The children's names have not yet been released.
Washington's last known address was a house in the Corinthian Pointe neighborhood of Houston, owned by her parents. The distance between that residence and the hotel is approximately seven miles. Washington grew up in Houston and has an extensive family network across Texas and the San Francisco Bay area. Information regarding the children's father has not been made public.
Houston Police Lieutenant Larry Crowson described the event as a "very tragic incident" and confirmed the preliminary belief that the deaths were the result of a murder-suicide involving mental health issues. Investigations by the police and the medical examiner are ongoing to confirm the exact cause of death for all three individuals.