Things in the breathtakingly beautiful county of Shoshone in Idaho took a dramatic turn toward the dark, shocking, and horrible on the night of May 17th. It was then that the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call home in the town of Wallace, Idaho and found a mother and her toddler both dead from gunshot wounds.
Posting about the horrific murder-suicide on Facebook, the Shoshone County Sheriff, Sheriff Holly Lindsey, said:
Sheriff Lindsey here with a devastating release. Last night, May 17th, at approximately 8:27 p.m., the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office responded to 152 King Street in Wallace, Idaho for the report of a death. Upon arrival, the body of Elizabeth Lawley (33) along with her 2-year-old son were found deceased in the home, both with gunshot wounds. The preliminary investigation indicates that Lawley likely killed her son and then killed herself.
Speaking honestly, in my 19 years of service for Shoshone County, I’ve never seen the SCSO so somber, so devastated; we shared a lot of hugs, and we shared a lot of tears. Today was an extremely difficult day for the family, for our office, and for this community. And I can only imagine what the family is going through.
As the Sheriff, I’m obligated to share the news with the citizens of Shoshone County, but I can’t in good conscience put the family through any more pain by reporting on this incident any further, so this will be our last comment pertaining to this tragedy.
I may just be sleep deprived, but I can’t stop thinking about how precious life is. Kiss your spouse, hug your children, call your parents and your sibling(s) to check in with them-don’t take any of it for granted…not even for a minute.
Stay safe out there and take care of each other.
KREM 2, in addition to reporting that the Idaho Police Department are assisting the sheriff’s department in its investigation of the incident, noted that the murder-suicide was, sadly, not the only tragedy to hit the area recently, reporting that an axe-murder also occurred in recent days, forcing sheriff’s deputies to respond. In its words:
The suspected murder-suicide is the latest tragedy to rock the Silver Valley this week. On Monday, a Wallace man was struck in the head with an axe at his home on High Bank Street. Deputies found the suspected attacker, 39-year-old Nicholas Johnson, nude on the street and arrested him. The victim was sent to the hospital in critical condition. He survived and has been released.
Wallace Mayor Lynn Mogensen says she wants to thank all the first responders during this difficult time.
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