In the early hours of the morning on May 29th, neighbors woke up to the sound of a weeping child in the street. The little boy was a 6-year-old resident of Lansing’s southside. Neighbors who found him called 911, unsure of what was wrong or why he was roaming the streets at 1am. The child was physically unharmed and was placed in the custody of CPS workers.

Lansing police were dispatched to the scene and were led by the boy to his parents house on the 4100 block of Sheffield Street in Lansing. When officers arrived at the home, they found a woman lying on the floor in the basement, unresponsive and bleeding. Upon further inspection, they found a man dead in the garage.

The couple were later identified as Kristin Batdorf, 43, and Jose Rodriguez-Yera, 47 of Lansing.  Lansing Police Captain Darryl Green stated that the preliminary investigation indicates the deaths are a murder suicide, with “…the male being listed as the accused.”

Osmany Junco, one of the people interviewed who said he had been friends with Rodriguez for almost all his life, told authorities that Rodriguez had called him at one point, saying that he and his wife were having problems and she wanted to leave him. But beyond that, he had no details.

Most of the neighbors interviewed have said that the couple was friendly, helpful and pleasant, showing no outward signs of marital trouble. No one has come forward to say that they heard arguments or confrontation of any kind.

This is a terrible tragedy, say police, in particular because the boy, who was the couple’s son, was about to celebrate his 7th birthday in just a few days. CPS initially had trouble locating the child’s next of kin, as they live out of state and are currently out of the country.

Police have not yet released any information about how the couple died, however, neighbors have said that they heard gunshots at about 1am.