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DA: Man fatally shot four children in Union Co. on Jan. 29 before setting home on fire, killing himself

The victims included two 5-year-old children, a 9-year-old and a 15-year-old, as well as 52-year-old Charles Damon Aljumaily.

UNION COUNTY, Tenn. — The Union County District Attorney General's Office said Monday in a document that a man shot and killed four children on Jan. 29 before he set his Union County house on fire and took his own life.

According to the May 22 memorandum, District Attorney General Jared Effler said that when firefighters arrived at the Luttrell home, they found five people dead inside. He said several of them initially appeared to have gunshot wounds.

Authorities said firefighters first found 15-year-old Briseis Aljumaily dead in the left-rear corner bedroom of the home. They then found 9-year-old Audrie Quinn Cooper-Fortner and 5-year-old Evelyn Rose Cooper-Fortner dead in a bedroom, before finding the body of 52-year-old Charles Damon Aljumaily. According to the memorandum, they then found 5-year-old Gabriella Aljumaily dead.

Investigators also found "spent projectiles," or bullets, near where firefighters found Audrie and Evelyn. In the living room, they found another bullet and a handgun in a crawl space nearby.

They said Audrie died from two gunshot wounds to the head, and Evelyn died from two, possibly three, gunshot wounds to the head. They said Briseis died from a gunshot wound to the head, and Gabriella died from two gunshot wounds to the torso. Charles Aljumaily died from a gunshot wound to the head, the memorandum says.

"The fact that Mr. Aljumaily only had one gunshot wound, combined (with) the rest of the evidence, indicates that he committed suicide after shooting the juvenile victims. Simply put, it is not conceivable that someone could shoot themselves twice in the head," the memorandum says.

While the scene was being processed, the DA said agents interviewed Charles' wife, who said he "had been paranoid lately and accused her of cheating on him." She also said that "for the last few months he had been saying that there was a devil in his head attacking him and that he wanted to harm himself, but was afraid to because of how that would affect his salvation."

According to the memorandum, she left the house around 12 p.m. on Jan. 29 to meet her adult daughter and go to a store in Knoxville. She said she received a call from a neighbor around 2:53 p.m. that the house was on fire. She had received a text message around 2:08 p.m. from Audrie and Evelyn asking when she would be home.

The memorandum also said agents interviewed Charles Aljumaily's brother, who also said Charles told him he suspected his wife of cheating.

According to the memorandum, the Regional Forensic Center in Knoxville determined all four children died from gunshot wounds, "the manner of death being homicide." They also found Charles Aljumaily died from a gunshot wound, "the manner of death being suicide." It also said evidence showed the victims hadn't breathed in soot from the fire.

The memorandum found that the fire started in or around the dining room, at the back side of the home. They also said there was no indication of any intruder and said the gun used in the killings was owned by Charles Aljumaily. According to the memorandum, Charles likely acted alone in the killings.

"I would be remiss if I did not recognize the fire departments and law enforcement personnel who responded to the scene, extinguished the fire, spent days recovering evidence under extremely difficult circumstances, and diligently investigated these horrific and heinous crimes," the memorandum says.

In a letter to the TBI about the memorandum, Effler also said, "In my 23 years as a prosecutor, this is one of the most tragic and heartbreaking cases I have ever encountered."

You can read the full memorandum below or by clicking this link:

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