Name: Christine Adewunmi
Number of victims: 3
Date of murder: March 17, 2012
Victims: Her three daughters: Lauren, 8, Samantha, 6, and Kate, 3
Method of murder: Shooting
Location: Crawford County, Missouri, USA
Status: Committed suicide the same day as the murders
Christine Adewunmi was an American woman who shot her three young daughters before killing herself in Missouri in 2012.
Christine Adewunmi (née Pannett), graduated from Kirkwood High School and became a physical education teacher at Parkway North from December 1998 to June 2006. Her three daughters attended Oak Brook Elementary.
Before her death, Adewunmi had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and depression. Her family was aware of her struggles with mental health, but also knew she was a devoted mother who made her children her number one priority.
On Friday, March 17, 2012, Adewunmi's husband, Leonard Adewunmi, left the family's Arbor Bluff Circle home in St. Louis County for work; he said the family remained asleep when he left the house. When Leonard returned at 6 p.m. that night, the house was empty. He tried contacting his wife on her cellphone 25 times before calling the police to report his wife and daughters missing; he warned police that his wife was bipolar and was struggling with depression. He also told police he feared his wife was suicidal.
On Saturday, March 18, 2012, at around 1 p.m., the family's SUV was discovered on a dead-end gravel road leading to the Meramec River in Crawford County, on a remote piece of property belonging to the Blue Springs Ranch. Near the SUV, the bodies of Christine and her three girls were discovered dead from gunshot wounds. The police report revealed that Christine had been looking up websites on depression and suicide. She had been seeing a therapist and was referred to a hospital for evaluation.
Missouri Highway Patrol confirmed that Christine fired the shots that killed herself and her family. The shots were fired from a handgun, but authorities declined to be more specific about the weapon. The case was treated as a triple-murder/suicide from the start.
The principal of Oak Brook Elementary School, Chris Shirley, sent parents an email on Sunday, March 19, notifying them of the deaths. Lauren was a second-grader, Samantha was in first grade, and Kate was a preschooler. The school was on spring break at the time of the murders; additional support was offered to help students, staff, and parents process their feelings and grief.
Christine was described by friends, family, and neighbors as a devoted stay-at-home mother who frequently played outside with her children or drove them to various activities. Alan Berman, director of the American Association of Suicidology, said that it may be the case that Christine's battle with depression had caused her to kill her children to protect them. He also said Christine was suicidal and wanted her children to be safe, and wanted to keep them under her wing even after her death.
