"He Was A Good Guy"

"COLUMBUS, OH — Columbus police homicide detectives are calling the first homicide of 2011 an apparent murder suicide. Police say they believe a man shot his estranged wife before taking his own life and it happened in the presence of their seven children. It happened Tuesday afternoon on the city's southwest side on the 4900 block of Lion Drive in the Emerald Glen Apartments complex.

"Around 4:30 pm Tuesday, police say they responded to the apartment on reports of a shooting. In the bedroom, they made a gruesome discovery; the bodies of a man and a woman.

"`It's my understanding there was a temporary separation between the couple, that she had returned home to visit with their children,` said Sergeant Steven Little. `An argument ensued at which time he shot and killed his wife and then shot himself.`

"Police identify the couple as 29-year-old Kimly Prak and 25-year-old Keorattana Lo.

"To make matters worse, police say the couple's seven children were present. Even more tragically, neighbors say Keorattana was pregnant. `The oldest child, I believe is 11 or 12 years old, she's the one that made the 911 call to our radio room and asked that the police respond,` said Sgt. Little.

"`He was a good guy, she was a good woman. They loved their kids,` says neighbor Troy Carpenter, who says he first met the couple days after they moved into their apartment four years ago. He says he can’t understand how it came to this. `They had split up I know for a couple months, but as far as this happening, everybody was clueless,` says Carpenter.

"He isn’t the only neighbor in shock. `It happened out of nowhere, really nobody was expecting this. We knew they were having problems and stuff but we never thought it would go to this extreme,` said Alex Rodriguez.

"Detectives continue to investigate. Police say the seven children are now in the custody of family members."

From nbc4i.com...