Cops: Grandma shot self, young grandsons in car
PRESTON, Conn. (AP) - A woman who picked up her two young grandsons from daycare and was supposed to bring them home so the 2-year-old could open his birthday presents instead drove them to a neighboring town and shot and killed the children and herself, state police and family members said.
The bodies of 47-year-old Debra Denison and her grandsons, 2-year-old Alton Perry and 6-month-old Ashton Perry, were found Tuesday night in a car parked near Lake of Isles in Preston, in the southeastern part of the state.
State police called the deaths a double murder-suicide Wednesday, saying they believe Denison shot the boys and herself. Autopsies were planned.
Family members said Denison had bipolar disorder and a history of mental health problems.
Tuesday was Alton's second birthday. Denison picked up the children from their daycare in North Stonington Tuesday afternoon and was supposed to bring them home so Alton could open his presents, family members said.
"I wanted him to come home and play with his new toys and have a good day," Alton's mother, Brenda Perry, told WVIT-TV.
In Facebook postings late Tuesday and Wednesday morning, Brenda Perry thanked people for their prayers and said she loved her sons.
"God (has) two beautiful angels helping him now," the postings said. "My boys are in an amazing place we got a few great angels watching over us. love you Ashton and alton."
On Monday she wrote: "So excited making mini cupcakes and play dough for Altons day tomorrow can't believe 2 years old already. So blessed"
Perry and her husband, Jeremy, told WVIT that Denison had a gun and suffered from split personalities.
Denison was armed with a gun when she left her home Tuesday afternoon and had permission to pick up the boys from the daycare, state police spokesman Lt. J. Paul Vance said.
A phone message seeking comment was left Wednesday at the daycare, Kidds & Co. A posting on the daycare's Facebook page said, "Our love and prayers are with the Perry family. Tomorrow (Wednesday) will be difficult for all of us but we are here to offer our support to all our families and staff."
The bodies were found at about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, about two hours after state police issued a statewide Amber Alert for Denison and the boys.
The bodies of 47-year-old Debra Denison and her grandsons, 2-year-old Alton Perry and 6-month-old Ashton Perry, were found Tuesday night in a car parked near Lake of Isles in Preston, in the southeastern part of the state.
State police called the deaths a double murder-suicide Wednesday, saying they believe Denison shot the boys and herself. Autopsies were planned.
Family members said Denison had bipolar disorder and a history of mental health problems.
Tuesday was Alton's second birthday. Denison picked up the children from their daycare in North Stonington Tuesday afternoon and was supposed to bring them home so Alton could open his presents, family members said.
"I wanted him to come home and play with his new toys and have a good day," Alton's mother, Brenda Perry, told WVIT-TV.
In Facebook postings late Tuesday and Wednesday morning, Brenda Perry thanked people for their prayers and said she loved her sons.
"God (has) two beautiful angels helping him now," the postings said. "My boys are in an amazing place we got a few great angels watching over us. love you Ashton and alton."
On Monday she wrote: "So excited making mini cupcakes and play dough for Altons day tomorrow can't believe 2 years old already. So blessed"
Perry and her husband, Jeremy, told WVIT that Denison had a gun and suffered from split personalities.
Denison was armed with a gun when she left her home Tuesday afternoon and had permission to pick up the boys from the daycare, state police spokesman Lt. J. Paul Vance said.
A phone message seeking comment was left Wednesday at the daycare, Kidds & Co. A posting on the daycare's Facebook page said, "Our love and prayers are with the Perry family. Tomorrow (Wednesday) will be difficult for all of us but we are here to offer our support to all our families and staff."
The bodies were found at about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, about two hours after state police issued a statewide Amber Alert for Denison and the boys.
Sigh.
Sit here and argue all you want. At the end of the day, who cares about any of it? These poor babies are gone, that is all that matters.
This has to be one of the worst cases I have read about...and preventable. Â I have not read about familicide committed by a grandparent before. Â And I cannot believe she was allowed a gun. Â But oh, right...that dearly beloved 2nd Amendment trumps again....let freedom ring and all that crap. Â This is one individual who should Never have had access to a gun. Â Some people should not OWN them or ever get their hands on them. Â And I like the multiple diagnosis - split personality, bi-polar...in other words...why was Grand,a ever alone with the kids? Â This is really a sad, sad situation....
@BCH mom, The problem in this situation seems to be children left in the unsupervised care of a severely mentally ill individual -- a person who is bipolar AND suffers from split personality -- not very run of the mill mentally ill person - so sad and horrifying.  I can tell you, though, the revocation of the 2nd Amendment would not hinder a violently insane person from committing violently insane acts. The revocation of the 2nd amendment could, though, allow tyranny to descend in our country. The 2nd amendment exists there so we, the people, can defend ourselves against tyranny. Although I am not a personally a gun owner, I hold the 2nd Amendment in high esteem. Review history lessons and current political situations in the world to remind yourself of the kind of tyranny experienced by people like us, very recently...and tyranny still being experienced, all over this world, even now. Tyranny is swift. So, please..there is nothing "crap" about the 2nd Amendment, but there is something "crap" about how media manipulates us, a complacent, pliable, trusting citizenry, prone to emotional sensationalism -- into wanting to obliterate whatever rights we may still have left. Meanwhile, we are allowing a President to allow psychological operations to be performed on the American populace all while granting himself legal authority to have secret kill lists that can target American people. Oh, and where's Habeas Corpus? I don't know, but however sad some of these stories are, and they ARE very sad -- the thought of what could happen to a disarmed populace in the face of an onslaught of tyrannical government is far, far more chilling.Â
So, I'd just ask you to please give the situation logical and reasoned thought, in light of historical knowledge. In addition, we need to ask questions about what industries have it in their own best interests to shift focus away from themselves and onto the gun industry. In particular, I'd like to know if this woman was taking any medications.  I am very concerned about the Pharmaceutical industry and how so many pharmaceuticals have been linked to homicidal and suicidal behaviors.Â
Perry and her husband, Jeremy, told WVIT that Denison had a gun and suffered from split personalities.
Holy crap, this person was known to have mental problems and a gun and no one did anything about it? Guns aren't the problem...crazy mofo's are the problem.
Similar things have happened with the children being drowned in a car or thrown off a bridge. We have a mental health epidemic in this country.Â
God help us all! Or who or whatever you believe in.
may the grandmother rest in HELL for what she has done, she does not deserve to rest in peace, She doesn't even deserve a proper burial If it were up to me I would strew her bones all through the sewers.
How horrible! Poor 2 years old little boy died on his 2nd birthday along with his baby brother.
My condolences to the parents and rest of the family. They are living out every parents' worst nightmares tonight.
Before you all point fingers, try to understand that mental health is an incredibly complex and misunderstood phenomenon. Â Obviously the parents of these babies didn't ever think grandma could do something like this, so all the "who let this woman be alone with children" comments aren't helping. Â Just try to be compassionate. Â There's no good that will ever come from this.
@Diogenes Compassion can lead to complacency which can lead to horrible circumstances. Like This. From the tiny bit we know so far, she should not have been entrusted with the babes. And the best that can come from this horrible event is knowledge. Do not leave the most precious things in your life with obviously unstable people. For the sake of everyone. Crazy person included. As I know no grandma would ''want'' to kill her grandchildren. She was sick. =...(
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So..Mexican drug cartels don't exist where they kill their own? Black people don't shoot other Black gang members? Mmmmkay there buddy.
@lousecrapton --- that's an uncalled for comment.
Dear god..please help this family to mend.
My heartfelt condolences to the family of these two precious children. I have buried a child and it is the hardest thing you will ever do in your lifetime. Â How sad that this family must bury three members of their family at one time. Â I pray that some how this country will do something about mental health. Â It has to be now before more people are killed. Â These acts of violence are tearing this country apart. Â
Why do we want to have tighter access to guns? because they kill people, tighter control will never eliminate all the crazies but many will and should be avoided by making it more difficult to get them in first place, this goes over gun fringe, but now 93% are in favor of more stringent background checks, the 7% and change here keep throwing 2ond amendment blanket as Moses must have written it, well not, amend it pronto, and we diminish the acts that offend us and threaten our safety. Liberals and progressives lead the way toward lifting the boat for everybody as to the few, the GOP is a stinking hulk and the libertarians have turned putrid on guns and lost all credit for advancing our society, Dems not perfect but at least reaching toward ideals worth support.
@Social Glimpse So maybe the family members of those with known mental illness should take their guns rather then have you take my guns and everyone else's just because one in every few million people might do something bad with it in our mentally ill.
OMGosh! This is so sad.. So darn sad.. My tears started flowing as I read it, just couldn't help it..
This is just awful.. Please Do NOT make this about gun control.. That lady was ill and that is a question asked when you purchase a firearm, at least here in WA state. If you answer yes, then no gun.. I know, I know people lie but it's already illegal for those with mental illnesses to own handguns.. I don't know about long guns but they shouldn't have those either.
I KNOW about this illness.. My mom has it and I've dealt with it my whole life.. There are varying degrees of it but she had some pretty bad manic times.. However, she ALWAYS knew right from wrong. She never did anything that hurt anyone else, not physically anyway.Â
My mother-in-law has become very paranoid the last 6-7 years and she refuses to get help. We've tried but agoraphobia (refusing to leave her home) is part of her illness. Anyway, she always lived in the sticks, like me and she owned a LOT of guns, both handguns & rifles.. My husband INSISTED she give us the guns when she started showing signs of mental illness. Â We made sure we got them all- there should be some responsibility on the family to make sure aging parents, whether senile, mentally ill or showing signs of dementia, do NOT have access to guns.Â
This is VERY VERY SAD! My heart breaks for the family and those two little boys..Â
@cwpholder Yep had to take all my dads guns to for similar reasons... I doubt he would have hurt my mother was having suicidal thoughts.
@FreedomRocks @cwpholder --- Sad to have to do it. I hope if I ever reach that point my family would do the right thing. Sorry you had to go through that.
@The Resistance @FreedomRocks @cwpholder Yep just as hard as taking away the car keys from my wifes dad...not fun having to become the parent of the parent...
@FreedomRocks @cwpholder Aww sorry to read that.  It's good you did the responsible thing.. It's tough as parents get older.. It's like the roles reverse..Â
People with multiple personalities and bipolar disorder should not be allowed to have guns or even be alone with children. WTF? This was so avoidable!
Someone with bi-polar is difficult enough...but with "other mental disabilities"...why was she able to be with those little boys, alone? Inner demons...now there are new angels. I'm sure she's one also...her illness took them all.
Let me guess she was taking prescription anti depressants or other mood altering prescription drugs? the side affects are worse than the disease.
@iamright555Â My supervisor is bi-polar. Â If she weren't on her meds, she wouldn't be able to work. Â I've seen her when she's needed them adjusted, and it's a fate I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. Â You're wrong.....if side affects are an issue, there needs to be adjustments made. Â And if you don't know someone who's actually bi-polar, you have no clue.
@iamright555Â No they're not.. Not if she was Bi-polar.. My mom is and THANK GOD she's been on her meds for the last 15 years or so.. Before she had the right combo of meds it was HELL.
People that suffer from simple depression and all the "prozac" & other anti depressants, I agree with you but true mental illness like Bi-polar (formerly manic depressive disorder), schizophrenia and TRUE mental illness have a chemical imbalance in their brain. They can't help it, it's an illness like cancer or any other but they MUST have the right medication to balance out their brain chemistry. Â
Horrible! All the way around. That woman should never have been intrusted with those babies. I totally expected to hear that no one had a clue this could or would happen.
"Perry and her husband, Jeremy, told WVIT that Denison had a gun and suffered from split personalities." Â (from the story)
Just my personal view, but if I had a family member that I knew had serious mental issues - and I knew they also had a gun - there's NO WAY I would leave my 2 little kids in that person's unsupervised care... ever...
Rest in peace, Alton and Ashton Perry... My condolences go to the parents; this has to be a terrible time for them...
@margay1Â Margay I totally agree!!
Furthermore, when a family member is suffering from a mental illness or aging & showing signs of senility or dementia I believe the family should be responsible and remove all the guns from that person's home and/or make sure they can't get access to them.Â
This is just so sad... My eyes keep welling up with tears.. So sad..Â
Only good grandmas with guns can stop bad grandmas with guns..Â
If the family knew she had a history of bi-polar and split personality, why was she allowed to be alone with those babies at all? I'm sorry if this seems harsh to some, but aren't the family members who knew this also somewhat responsible for this happening? I know I would feel guilty if it were me but then I would never let my kids be alone with anyone whom I knew to be severely mentally unstable whether it be parent, grandparent, or otherwise. I'm not saying that their grandmother needed to be kept from them but there should have always been supervision just in case of her going off her medications or having a mental break such as she apparently did. I am sure the family will carry this grief and possibly guilt for their entire lives and, for that, I am truly sorry. I cannot imagine the grief in losing a child let alone in this way. These babies are now sweet angels and will never feel any more pain. That is the only silver lining I can find when someone takes the lives of children.
Ya wanna take yourself out.......fine. But why the innocents?????
I'll never understand that.
We really don't need tighter controls over who can own a gun do we?
@peckishpeteÂ
For sure we need to stop those evil guns from shooting innocent people.
Would you tighten up hammer controls if she had used a hammer?
@RalphCramden @peckishpeteÂ
Ah, yes, the pithy "hammers kill people, too" rebuttal. Â Foiled by wit and logic in equal measure. Â About 80% of all murders are committed with guns. Â If 80% of murders were being carried out with hammers, you'd probably see folks trying to control hammers. Â Dumb argument.
@FreedomRocks @Diogenes @RalphCramden @peckishpeteÂ
How many people were killed with guns last year? Â What's that? Â About 12,000? Â Hm.... Â You can try to move the goalposts all you want. Â Nobody mentioned assault weapons. Â RalphCramden said guns; I said guns; you said DERP!
But since we're now apparently changing the debate, how's about you name one incident where 20 children were killed with a hammer. Â Can you do that for me? Â Because I understand that the reason why many gun control advocates want to outlaw assault weapons is that they are designed for mass killing of human beings. Â I don't think there's a hammer that would work quite as well for that purpose.
FreedomRocks, protocol is that you provide the link. Do you mind doing so? I'm very interested to see the stat, and suppose many others are as well. I'm curious if the people were murdered with hammers as the weapon, or if these were deaths that were caused by accidents involving hammers. Thank you.
@Diogenes @RalphCramden @peckishpete They're trying to ban assault weapons and last year more people were killed with hammers than assault weapons. Look it up it's in the FBI stats...
@peckishpete  This happened in Connecticut, where they already have universal background checks, may issue concealed carry, license/permit to purchase, an assault weapons ban, child access prevention laws, no guns in the work place, no guns in schools, and no state preemption so localities can be even more strict though not sure how that could happen.
"Perry and her husband, Jeremy, told WVIT that Denison had a gun and suffered from split personalities."
WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?!
I miss the days when people with serious Mental Health Issues were put in institutions to get help or at least keep them and the Public Safe. This is what happens when Society becomes so Politically Correct that they do not institutionalize the Mentally Ill and Criminally Insane.
@swede760Â If you miss those good ol' days, you can thank then-Governor Ronald Reagan for getting the ball rolling and closing state mental hospitals.
@Sundowner @swede760 Probably so he could avoid spending his retirement in one. If I were to thank him the way I feel is correct I would probably be put in Prison.
@swede760Â Whispering so no one will hear: Â I worked for the state employee labor union when he was governor and had way too much exposure to him in close settings. Â He was not the sweet Grandpa-type people have made him out to be posthumously. Â There's a reason his own children weren't close to him OR her.
@swede760 You can thank President Ronald Reagan for closing down the mental institutions and letting all the patients out on the streets.
@QuandoQuandoQuando Exactly! So few people seem to understand this. It was also Reagan who deemed that ketchup could be counted as a vegetable serving for Title 1 school children receiving federally funded lunches. Of all the possible populations to shortchange, I would think that children whose only hope of a nutritious meal each day came from school would be your last option. Not Reagan. If you were poor, crazy, or non-white, you were SOL during his administration. And our society is still paying for his errors in judgment....
@gofigure @QuandoQuandoQuando  Plus the fact that any grown man who would call his wife "Mommy" just ain't right!
@swede760Â Not institutionalize. Just secure them in group homes or TAKE THEM AWAY FROM FAMILIES LIKE THIS - who don't care to keep them safe.Â
Institutionalization works only for those who are KNOWN to be a threat to others. Or to themselves. Who knows if this woman would ever have harmed anyone or herself - if not for her being allowed to have LOADED GUNS at her disposal. Clearly her mental demons were not being adequately helped - did her family make sure she was taking her medications. Did her COUNTY care to keep track of her?Â
@englishdaisy Sorry but we have tried the PC route and it still puts the Public in Danger. A friend of mine lost his Daughter in St. Helens to a guy who was in a Group Home, he stabed her to death and last week he went back to the State Hospital where he should have stayed when he tried to kill his Mother before that!
@swede760Â @englishdaisyÂ
Actually, it's called "the Constitutional way," as in, until and unless a person is proven to be a danger to themselves or others, they have Constitutional rights.
Wow, where do I start? A woman with bipolar disorder and other mental issues was entrusted with her grandchildren? And the family knew she possessed a weapon? There is so much wrong with this story, but my heart goes out to those two little ones who will not be around for other birthdays. And I'm sorry, if my two babies had just passed away, the last place I would be is at my computer posting on facebook. Bless those two babies.
@Kachina Bring the family in and question them. Question them. QUESTION THEM. And until they "get it" that they and they alone could have saved those children and they could have saved Debra Denison from taking her own life - there is no where for this news story to go. Except to acknowledge how very little this family cared about the MENTAL HEALTH and the very real suffering of their loved one.Â