Mom Kills 3 Children, Self; 4th Survives

May 29, 11:07 PM

Current Headlines: A poor immigrant mother in Texas hanged her four children and then herself in Texas Tuesday with only the youngest, an 8-month-old baby, surviving.

Family and friends said Gilberta Estrada, 25, from Tamaulipas, Mexico, was a single mother living in Hudson Oaks, Texas, who worked a fast-food job, received no child support and had no medical insurance, The Dallas Morning News reported. She reportedly had divulged to a friend recently she was depressed and court records indicate she may have been a victim of domestic violence, the newspaper said.

But despite her dire straits, authorities were still trying to determine why Estrada chose to hang her children and then herself. She used strips of clothe and scarves to hang her daughters -- Maria Estrada 5, Yaneth Frayre, 3, Magaly Frayre, 2, and Evelyn Frayre, 8 months -- in a closet. Only the youngest girl survived.

Parker County Sheriff Larry Fowler had no motive for the probable triple murder-suicide. The mother left no suicide note and there were no signs of a struggle or trauma other than the hangings.

My mind cannot get around how something like this could happen, Fowler said.