Pennsylvania State Police are investigating what appears to be a murder-suicide in Berks County. It happened Sunday in North Heidelberg Township at a home on the 2000 block of Brownsville Road.
Local residents say they smelled smoke coming from the home around 9:30 p.m. and called police. Once crews arrived and controlled the fire, they say they made a shocking discovery inside. Madison Evans, 11, was found bludgeoned to death inside her bed. Her mother, Donna Evans, 39, was found dead near a charcoal grill.
Police believe Evans killed her daughter, lit the grill after bringing it inside her house and then committed suicide.
Neighbors who knew the mom and daughter say they're shocked by the incident.
"It's unbelievable," said neighbor Carlo Renzi. "She was a very good mother and the daughter was a sweet, young girl."
Investigators say Evans, who lived with a friend and saw her daughter every other weekend, left behind notes indicating she was distraught about a relationship.
"It was thought out," said Pa. State Trooper David Beohm. "She had time to write half a dozen letters to different people."
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"I understand they were breaking up," said neighbor Carl Hobwood. "They must have been going through a rough time."
State Police are performing an autopsy to determine the mother's exact cause of death.
