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A homeless mom shot and killed her 2-year-old daughter before taking her own life near a church where they’d been living, according to police and devastated family members.
Abria Spriggs, 31, and her young daughter were found Sunday morning dead with gunshot wounds inside a car parked near Milford Baptist Church in Cobb County, Ga., Spriggs’ great-uncle, James Kennedy, told 11 Alive.
Police believe that Spriggs killed her daughter and then turned the gun on herself, Kennedy said.
The pair were “beyond life-saving measures” when they were discovered, the Cobb County Police Department said in a statement.
The mother had just moved to the Atlanta area from Augusta and had a history of saying she wanted to take her own life — but her family did not realize the full depth of her despair or dire living conditions, Kennedy said.
I did not know she was homeless,” Kennedy said of his relatives living in a church. “If I knew … just come in my house and we will find you somewhere.”
Kennedy used the tragedy to encourage others to share their plights with loved ones.
“Talk to someone. Do not hold it in. Talk to someone. Someone that you know cares,” he said.
Police said that the investigation remains ongoing.
The Cobb County Police Department declined additional comments on the incident Tuesday.