An Ohio sheriff says the gunshot deaths of a disabled toddler and the grandparents who cared for him are leaning toward a murder-suicide inside their home.
Deputies in Tuscarawas County found three people dead with apparent gunshot wounds inside a home on Cherry Street in Gnadenhutten after a troubled 911 call on Wednesday.
The dead were identified as 22-month-old Kozzar Lotut, 51-year-old Melissa Campbell, and 67-year-old Gale Sanders. Sheriff Orvis L. Campbell said the grandparents had been caring for the toddler, who had medical disabilities, and told local reporters the evidence points to a murder-suicide that occurred inside the residence.
According to the Tuscarawas County Sheriff’s Office, dispatchers first got a 911 hang-up. They tried the line back several times. On one callback, someone picked up and a voice softly said the word “help.”
The call was traced to the North Cherry Street home. A great-grandmother opened the door and let investigators inside, where the three bodies were found.
Fox News reported the sheriff’s assessment of the scene and the early direction of the case.
Sheriff Campbell told WOIO:
"Right now, if I had to say the evidence was leaning one way, it’s definitely leaning towards a murder-suicide. We’re pretty confident, you know, that it happened within the home,"
No motive has been made public. Investigators have not released a full account of who fired a weapon, who was shot by whom, or whether a firearm was recovered at the scene.
The Tuscarawas County Coroner’s Office confirmed the victims’ identities and took custody of the bodies for autopsies. Manner and cause of death are still listed as pending.
The coroner’s office said additional information will be released as it becomes available and as appropriate.
Melissa Campbell, 51, appeared to have worked as a registered nurse at New Philadelphia Health Care Center, operated by American Medical Administrators. Gale Sanders was 67. Both were described as grandparents who cared for Kozzar, the disabled toddler.
Fox News Digital reached out to American Medical Administrators for comment. A response was not detailed in the available reporting.
Officials have not named the 911 caller or said who spoke the soft plea for help. The exact family relationships among the toddler, the two adults found dead, and the great-grandmother who opened the door have not been fully mapped in public statements.
The sheriff’s office has framed the case as a suspected murder-suicide based on evidence at the home. Autopsy results and a fuller investigative account have not yet been released. Absolute calendar dates beyond “Wednesday” were not stated in the initial reporting.
When a disabled child and the adults who cared for him die by gunfire inside a family home, the public is owed clear facts, not silence and delay. Law enforcement owes that family, and that community, a complete accounting.
