The BENNETT Children - 4, 9 & 14 yo - Austin (N of Louisville) KY

Mom, 3 children slain, found in burned home

AUSTIN – A woman and her three children
found dead in a partly burned home in southern Indiana had all been
shot in the head, and two of them had suffered smoke inhalation,
authorities said Saturday. Indiana State Police spokesman Sgt.
Jerry Goodin released those details Saturday and identified the victims
but said in the statement that detectives “are not ready to release any
type of determination of the facts” in the killings.
Goodin said test results are pending and police are still conducting interviews. The
bodies were found Friday afternoon in Austin, about 35 miles north of
Louisville, Ky., when an Austin police officer forced his way into the
home after concerned relatives called police and asked them to check on
the family. Goodin said the officer found that parts of the home had been burned. The
Kentucky Medical Examiner’s Office in Louisville, Ky., performed
autopsies on the victims Saturday and identified them as 30-year-old
Amanda Bennett, her 14-year-old daughter Jasmine Abbott, 9-year-old
daughter Katelynn Bennett, and 4-year-old son Ryan Bennett, Goodin said.
Autopsies showed that all four had been shot in the head.
Preliminary findings indicate that Amanda Bennett and Katelynn Bennett
died from their head wounds and smoke inhalation, while the two others
died from their head wounds. Goodin said the Scott County School District
will have extra counselors on hand Monday for classmates of the three siblings.
Austin resident Lula Davidson told WAVE-TV of Louisville she was good friends with Amanda Bennett.
“I don’t understand and it wasn’t meant for me to understand, but I would like to understand,” she said Friday night. TamRa
Stidham and Whitney Anderson told WAVE they were good friends with the
oldest child and had never noticed any trouble with the family.
“She (the mother) did everything for the kids and anything they wanted they got,
if she had the money,” Stidham said. “She
would do anything for any of us – it was like, if we were there staying
the night, it would just be like we were part of their family,”

Anderson said.http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20110123/NEWS07/301239908/1002/LOCAL

AUSTIN, Ind. (AP) — Investigators say a southern Indiana woman shot her three children and the family dog before setting fire to her home and fatally shooting herself.

State police believe 30-year-old Amanda Bennett carried
out the triple murder-suicide at the family's home in the Scott County
town of Austin, shooting her three children and herself in the head.

Her body and those of 14-year-old Jasmine Abbott,
9-year-old Katelynn Bennett and 4-year-old Ryan Bennett were found
Friday in the partially burned home after worried relatives asked police
to check on the family.

State police Sgt. Jerry
Goodin said Monday in a statement that the killings were "a tragic case
of murder/suicide that claimed three innocent lives."

http://www.fox40.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-us-fatal-indiana-fire,0,3742926.story

Indiana woman killed her 3 children and herself, police say

January 25, 2011 12:57 p.m. EST

The oldest victim, Jasmine Abbott, 14, had spoken of marital problems between her parents, a friend said.

STORY HIGHLIGHTSMother, three children died from gunshot wounds to the head

• Authorities believe mother Amanda Bennett set fire to the home
  
• Bennett was believed to have written an online post blaming her husband
  

Read more on this story from CNN affiliate WDRB.
(CNN) -- An Indiana woman shot her three children and set the family's house on fire before turning the gun on herself, police said.

The bodies of the four were discovered Friday, when police in Austin, Indiana, responded to the home to conduct a welfare check. "Upon arriving, the officer had to make a forced entry into the residence," Indiana State Police said Monday in a statement. "Once in the residence, he saw parts of the home had suffered recent fire damage and also located four deceased persons in the home."

The state police assisted with the investigation, which preliminarily concluded that 30-year-old Amanda Bennett shot the children -- 14-year-old Jasmine Abbott, 9-year-old Katelynn Bennett and 4-year-old Ryan Bennett -- before starting the fire and shooting herself.

"While the investigation remains open until autopsy reports are finalized, indications are this case is a tragic case of murder/suicide that claimed three innocent lives along with the suspect of the murders, Amanda Bennett," the police statement said.

All four apparently died from gunshot wounds to the head. Amanda Bennett and Katelynn Bennett also suffered smoke inhalation, police said.

The family's dog was also shot, but survived and was being treated at a veterinary clinic, authorities said.

Jasmine, the teenager, had made references to marital problems between her parents and a possible divorce, friend Karen Barrett told CNN affiliate WDRB.

Indiana State Police spokesman Sgt. Jerry Goodin told CNN that authorities examined online content as part of their investigation, including a posting purportedly from Amanda Bennett that blamed her husband, according to WDRB, saying, "You got what you wanted, no wife
and no kids."

However, the reasons for the shootings remain unclear, Goodin said. "The only person that knows the motive is Amanda," he said.

Austin is about 35 miles north of Louisville, Kentucky.