The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office suspects that a 49-year-old Barnhart woman shot her 11-year-old son in the head early Saturday morning (Feb. 10), then turned the gun on herself. She was pronounced dead at the scene, and the boy is in critical condition today (Feb. 11) with life-threatening injuries in a local hospital.
Sgt. Brian Taylor said deputies were called shortly after midnight to a home in the 7200 block of Valley Drive and found that the woman and the boy both had gunshot wounds.
Both were taken to an area hospital, where the woman, Tara Kelleher, died. The boy, Taylor said, remained in critical condition.
Taylor said that authorities don’t know what led to the shootings.
“As of now, there is no motive that we know about,” he said. “There is no significant history of law enforcement intervention to this house, and we found no indication as to why she did this, such as a note or anything like that.”
Taylor said the woman’s fiance was sleeping elsewhere in the house and was awakened by what he described as a “boom.”
“We believe that was one of the shots,” Taylor said. “He was very cooperative, although the responding officers believed he may have understandably been in shock. He said that nothing out of the ordinary had happened earlier in the evening, certainly nothing that would lead to this.”
Taylor said the man is not considered to be a suspect in the case.
He said an investigation is ongoing.
“We’re looking into the woman’s cell phone, seeing whether she might have written something but didn’t post on social media, or a text message to a friend or relative that, while it might not have seemed odd at the time, it might point us in the right direction given what we know now,” he said.
He said the boy is clinging to life.
“It’s my understanding that his condition is still very critical, as you would expect if you have a gunshot wound to the head,” he said. “We believe he is on medical support. It’s very touch-and-go at this point. He’s a very strong young man, and all of us at the Sheriff’s Office are praying for this boy and his family and friends.”