An Ohio mom shot dead her thrash metal singer husband, 13-year-old son and 74-year-old father before turning the gun on herself, as cops arrived at her home to serve eviction papers. Theresa Cain also shot her 20-year-old daughter Samantha at her family home in Ohio Township on Monday.
However, Samantha survived the deadly attack but remains in critical condition in the hospital. The horrifying murder-suicide started when Clermont County Sheriff’s Office deputies came to serve eviction papers around 9:40 am on that day. The $299,000 home where Cain and her family lived in Ohio had recently gone into foreclosure and was bought for $230,000.
Deadly Murder-Suicide
The entire incident happened within moments. According to Fox 19, after officers knocked on her door, Cain greeted them on the patio before running back into her house. Deputies then heard a muffled voice scream “No, no, no, no” before hearing several gunshots.
All those to have been killed were identified as Cain’s father William Felton, 74, her husband Steven Cain, 50, her son Ethan Cain, 13, and Cain herself.
Police believe Steven, a singer for the thrash metal group Critical Khaos, was shot dead in the house’s basement around 30 minutes before they arrived.
The Ohio family’s horrific eviction was the result of years of financial hardship, with the foreclosure of their house serving as the most likely catalyst for the horrific shooting.
Theresa Cain was reportedly standing on the patio as deputies pulled up to the Cain family house, according to sheriff Steve Leahy.
They claimed to have spoken to her in the days prior to the eviction to discuss it and didn’t expect there would be any problems because she was “cooperative”.
She indicated the family would leave on February 27 at 10 am but asked for a couple of extra hours to pack.
However, police claim that as soon as the deputies arrived, she hurried inside. When the deputies knocked on the door and got no answer, they claimed to have heard a muffled “No, no, no, no.”
There was then, according to the sheriff, a “very fast” volley of bullets, during which Theresa killed three members of her family before turning the gun on herself.
Financial Crisis Ends in Tragedy
Deputies then rushed into the home to find Cian lying dead upstairs, close to her murdered 13-year-old son Ethan and 74-year-old father William. Police subsequently found Steven, her 50-year-old husband, on a couch downstairs. The investigation revealed that Cain had shot Steven first.
Even though she cooperated with authorities during the foreclosure process, no things were packed when police searched the crime scene, leading investigators to assume that she may have concealed their impending eviction from her family.
“You would think,” said the sheriff, “there would be resources for someone like them but I think she kept this a very close secret. Hopefully, Samantha recovers and can help fill in some blanks.
“It is tragic and unnecessary. What can we do to keep this from happening again? Well, I’m just not that sure that we can.
“When people are in crisis, it’s not as easy as just reaching out and saying, ‘I need help.’ They are spiraling. Nothing makes sense.”
“What we see here, you can’t make sense of this. Murder is a senseless thing but then you throw in suicide and the homicide of your family. It’s all very sad. This lady had been totally cooperative the entire time.”
Sheriff’s deputies said that they are hoping Samantha to recover enough to provide information regarding what caused the murders.
Samantha went to Northern Kentucky University, and her brother Ethan, who is 13 years old, attended New Richmond Middle School.
A GoFundMe has been created to cover Samantha’s medical expenses by her former sorority sisters and it has already raised more than $25,000. Authorities continue to investigate the shooting, which they claim was caused by the family’s financial difficulties.
Steven and Theresa Cain paid $212,000 for the three-bedroom home in July 2015, according to auditor records quoted by Fox19. In May 2022, Indiana’s Freedom Mortgage Corporation foreclosed on the property.
