A man, distressed by the recent death of his mother — and his family’s plans to sell the home he had spent his entire life in — shot and killed his three older siblings and a niece on Long Island, New York, before committing suicide Sunday, according to investigators.
The shocking violence perpetrated against 59-year-old Joseph Delucia Jr. fits the definition of a crime known since the 1980s as family annihilation. Most of these cases involve a male killer armed with a gun who kills several close family members before eventually killing himself.
American communities tend to view family destruction as isolated tragedies, but a July 2023 Indianapolis Star investigation found such incidents occur on average once every five days across the United States.
In DeLucia Jr.'s case, the local police commissioner urged the public to come forward whenever they have concerns about someone's mental well-being, NBC New York reports.
Authorities said Delucia Jr. met with his brother, two sisters and a woman's daughter on Sunday, three days before the siblings held a funeral for their late mother, Theresa Delucia, 95. The victims had planned to discuss the sale of Theresa's home in Syosset in Nassau County, New York, where Joseph had spent his entire life.
But Delucia Jr. — who worked as an auto mechanic — didn't allow that discussion to take place. He picked up a gun and shot his relatives a dozen times, killing them all, Nassau County Police Capt. Stephen Fitzpatrick told reporters Monday.
Delucia then came out to the home's front yard, screamed about what he had done and committed suicide, Fitzpatrick said.
First responders called to the scene found the bodies of 69-year-old Joan Kearns, 64-year-old Frank Delucia, 64-year-old Tina Hammond, and their daughter, 30-year-old Victoria Hammond. Kearns lived in Tampa, Florida; Frank Delucia lived in Durham, North Carolina; and the Hammonds lived in East Patchogue, New York, on Long Island.
Citing statements from other relatives, Fitzpatrick said De Lucia Jr.'s family assured him they would provide for him and that he was not left out of his mother's final wishes. But the family's plans called for him to move out of the house where the murders took place, Fitzpatrick said.
Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said officers realized only after Sunday's killings that Delucia Jr., upset over his mother's death and the sale of the family's home, might try to hurt himself or others. Ryder said officers might have intervened and blocked Delucia Jr.'s access to guns if they had been informed he was possibly struggling with his mental health.
Delucia Jr.'s neighbor, Wendy Pesner, told NBC New York that it was clear, even from a distance, that he “really needed emotional support” before Sunday's murders.
According to Rider, police were called to check on Delucia Jr. only once in recent years. That encounter showed no indication that Delucia Jr. was a threat — the only arrest on his record was in 1983 on drunken driving charges, Rider said.
“We’re asking our community to not sit idly by,” Ryder said at a press briefing Monday. “Be our eyes, be our ears and tell us what’s going on.
“We're not saying this incident could have been avoided, but it may have been avoidable.”
The US does not understand family destruction as well as it should, as there is no centralized database for this type of crime that would provide information on its characteristics or exact prevalence.
The Associated Press contributed reporting