A father called 911 to say he had killed his entire family, and police found six people dead in a Kansas home Aug. 11, 2026.
The call came in at about 8:50 a.m. CT from a house in Winfield, Kan., Winfield Police Chief Robbie DeLong said. The man “stated that he had killed his entire family and he was getting ready to kill himself,” DeLong said at a briefing that Tuesday evening.
A Perimeter, Then a Breached Door
Officers had no sign of any other deaths, DeLong said, so they set up a perimeter and worked the scene as a barricade situation. Shortly before 11 a.m. CT, they breached the front door. Six family members were dead inside.
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation identified the victims as Kelly George, 44, and her four children — Carol Williams, nine; Ronald Williams Jr., seven; Sarah Williams, five; and Kelly Magee-Williams, three. The agency named Ronald Williams Sr., 53, the father of the children, as the suspect. Jason Diaz, special agent in charge with the bureau, said he believes Williams was accurate in what he told the dispatcher, and that the final gunshot wound was self-inflicted. Only the six lived in the home, authorities said, and there is no ongoing threat to the public. A motive remains under investigation. DeLong said police had taken a few calls about Williams confronting and yelling at people, and that he could not point to anything that would have signaled what happened.
Four Children Dead on Harris Avenue
In Mechanicville, N.Y., four children were found dead Tuesday, June 23, in a Harris Avenue apartment with their mother and grandmother. The children were Harper Harmon, 13; Hudson Harmon, 11; and 10-year-old twins Gavin and Gracelynn Harmon. Their mother, Sarah Myers, 44, and maternal grandmother, Amy Steadman, 64, were also dead. Officers were sent to the building after a neighbor reported not seeing Steadman for some time, Mechanicville Police Chief William Rabbitt said at a news conference Thursday, June 25. Steadman lived in the apartment. Myers and the children lived separately in the same building.
One of the children is believed to have suffered fatal sharp-force injuries, Rabbitt said. Evidence also points to intentional poisoning, including numerous prescription and over-the-counter medications. Causes and manners of death for all six remained pending further testing. Rabbitt said a handwritten note found in the apartment gave investigators strong reason to believe Steadman took part in the deaths. He would not describe what it said.
Days From a Court-Ordered Pickup
Brady Harmon, the children’s father, was scheduled to pick them up Wednesday, July 1, and return them to New York on Sept. 1 under a court-ordered parenting plan. Salt Lake City police came to his Utah home with the news instead. Harmon said he had fought for six years to get custody or visitation. Court documents show he and Myers separated in November 2019, and their divorce was finalized in 2020. Myers then moved to New York with her mother and the children.
The agreement entitled Harmon to have the children from July through September, plus regular FaceTime calls, and he said Myers repeatedly blocked both. The calls he did get ran about 15 minutes, with all four children together and Myers in the room. The last time he saw them in person was November 2019. Harmon said he learned from watching the June 25 news conference that the grandmother was a suspect. “I have no idea why they could think it would be her,” Harmon said. Myers had been due in a Utah court in the divorce and parenting dispute. A memorial stood outside the apartment on Thursday, June 25.
Four Children in a Car Trunk
In Johnston County, N.C., Wellington Delano Dickens III, 38, called 911 at 10:09 p.m. on Oct. 27, 2025, to report that he had killed his children. Deputies went to his home on Springtooth Drive near Zebulon. Dickens told them his three-year-old son was alive inside the house and that four other children were dead in the trunk of a car in the garage. Investigators believe he killed three biological children, ages six, nine and 10, and his 18-year-old stepchild.
Court records show Dickens was charged with four counts of first-degree murder. Johnston County Sheriff Steve Bizzell said investigators believe the killings were spread over several months, between May and September 2025. Dickens’ wife, Stephanie Rae Jones Dickens, died in April 2024 from complications of a miscarriage. Neighbors described the family as reclusive, and Johnston County sheriff’s Capt. Don Pate said the children were homeschooled and were never seen outside.
Dickens also allegedly confessed to burying a fifth child, an infant, in the woods behind his home. Those remains have not been found.