Man, Woman Found Dead in Apparent Murder-Suicide; Baby Left Unharmed

A man and a woman were dead of gunshot wounds, but a 2-month-old girl was found alive and unhurt, when members of the sheriff’s Special Weapons Team smashed their way into a barricaded home in the Firestone area Thursday night.

A spokesman for the Sheriff’s Department said the two deaths were an apparent murder-suicide, believed to be the result of a disagreement over custody of the infant.

Deputies said they heard screams and several shots fired as they arrived at the house in the 8600 block of Bandera Street shortly before 9 p.m. in response to a report of a man with a gun.

A woman who said she had escaped from inside the house told deputies that the man, identified as Billy Harrel, 25, entered the house with a pistol in his hand at about 8:30. p.m.

She said he was the father of the girl and had been involved in a dispute with the mother, identified as Veronica Turpen, 20, over custody and other matters concerning the infant.

Members of the SWAT team surrounded the house and tried to contact those inside by telephone. However, no one answered, and shortly after 11 p.m., the order to enter the house was given.

The sheriff’s spokesman said Harrel had evidently shot the woman to death and then taken his own life.