Father bought gun day after domestic dispute call

8-year-old Lianna, 5-year-old Mark Jr. and 2-year-old Willow were found dead alongside their parents August 6 in the family’s home in Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania.

Also near his body were those of his wife, 33-year-old Megan, and their three children: 8-year-old Lianna, 5-year-old Mark Jr. and 2-year-old Willow. Police responded to the home to find the bodies inside.

Police found a gun and a suicide note.

Willow Short, 2, had been described as a miracle when she survived a risky heart transplant shortly after her birth.. Police broke into the home to check on the family after Megan Short’s mother reported to police that her daughter had failed to show for a lunch date.

Authorities say a note was found in the house and a gun was next to one of the adults. In early June, security from a Philadelphia hotel had to be called to a room in which Mark Short Sr. and his wife, Megan, had been staying for a domestic dispute. “As I work on my own mental healing, I wanted to share my experience so that other heart parents know they are not alone”.

Police were called to the home of Megan and Mark Short, who were in the process of separating, three weeks before the family was found dead in their Berks County home last Saturday.

On July 25, Megan Short signed a lease for an apartment in Yardley, Pennsylvania, and meant to move her children there.

Police who responded to the Short home a month later informed Megan Short how to seek a protection from abuse order, but although she said she meant to file the next day, she never sought such an order, the investigation found. Officers found the children home during the incident, but Mark Short had left the area before police arrived.

“This was a very, very unfortunate incident”, Berks County D.A. John Adams said Monday. Family members said relatives had been waiting to help her move to her new apartment that day.

A coroner confirmed Mark Short Sr. died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. A funeral Mass was held Friday.