Dayton police responded to domestic dispute hours before mother, daughter found dead

Suspect found dead in Alabama from apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Dayton police officers responded to a domestic dispute at a Burleigh Avenue house about 12 hours before a woman and her 6-year-old daughter were found dead in the basement.

The suspect was found dead hours later in Alabama after a self-inflicted gunshot wound, officials said.

Dayton police Maj. Brian Johns said officers received a call late Wednesday nearing midnight regarding a domestic dispute and responded to the house in the 300 block of Burleigh Avenue.

“It appears the homicide happened after law enforcement left the house,” he said.

Shortly before noon Thursday, police were called back to the house to check on the residents’ wellbeing. A neighbor called in the wellness check, Johns said.

“Once officers got there, they checked the house and sadly found the mother and the daughter next to each other on the floor in the basement of the home,” he said.

The woman was 31 and her daughter was 6. Both were shot, Johns said.

Their names had not been released as of Friday evening.

The woman’s boyfriend — who had been living with his girlfriend for about a year-and-a-half — was identified as the suspect found in the Huntsville, Alabama, area with the help of Alabama law enforcement.

He was found dead in his vehicle from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, Johns said.

The Associated Press reported Dante Rashad Hawes, 32, of Dayton, was found dead in a vehicle Thursday in Falkville, Alabama. He died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Morgan County Coroner Jeff Chunn said Hawes was suspected of killing his girlfriend and a young girl, the AP reported.

Johns called it “a very tragic case” and said the investigation is ongoing.

“We’re still doing the criminal investigation on this to see what other avenues we can actually follow to hold anybody accountable in this case or to prevent it from happening again in the future,” Johns said.

Credit: Marshall Gorby

Credit: Marshall Gorby

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