Girl, ma's new lover shot dead

A four-year-old girl and her mother’s new live-in partner were shot dead Saturday night as they were on their way home in North Fairview, Quezon City.

Police believe her own father may have inadvertently killed Kathlyn Abby Lagradante, who was declared dead on arrival at the Fairview General Hospital from a bullet wound that entered her right cheek and went out her nape.

Her mother’s new live-in partner, Rey Santos, 42, was killed on the spot due to three gunshot wounds in the head and another in the shoulder.

Superintendent Marcelino Pedrozo Jr., chief of the Homicide Investigation Section of the Quezon City Police District, said they are eyeing the possibility that the girl’s own father was behind the attack.

“It could be that the man targeted only Santos but also accidentally killed his own daughter,” Pedrozo said in an interview. He refused to divulge the identity of the father pending further investigation.

Pedrozo said he believes Lagradante was hit by a stray bullet.

A police report stated the attack happened at around 9 p.m. Saturday near the victims’ house in North Fairview.

Both victims were riding a black Honda motorcycle when three men armed with handguns shot them at close range.

Lagradante’s mother tried to rush the child to the hospital but failed to save her daughter’s life. Investigators recovered four empty shells from a .45 caliber handgun from the crime scene.

According to Pedrozo, the slain girl’s parents had reportedly separated and the child had been staying with her mother.

Pedrozo believes Santos may have earned the ire of the girl’s father after he started having an affair with Lagradante’s mother. Pedrozo said there are reports that Santos is also married. – Reinir Padua