Community Comes Together in Memory of Brooklyn Park Family

Family, friends and neighbors gathered on Wood Street Monday night for a vigil in memory of the Brooklyn Park family of four who were killed in an apparent murder-suicide.

Police said his wife Nina Thompson and her 15-year-old twins Treshawn and Taishawn Pugh before taking his own life Sunday morning. Kelly Thompson was not the twins’ biological father.

“We don’t know why [this happened], but we want to make sure … that you know that God is still in control,” said the Rev. LaTina Williamson of Garden of Prayer Baptist Church in Baltimore. “God heals all pain. You just have to trust and believe that he’s going to take care of you.”

Nina Thompson’s father Willis Dessesaure said his daughter could be described in one word.

“Wonderful. She was my star,” he said, through tears as he held his only remaining grandchild—Nina Thompson's neice—in his arms. “She was a wonderful girl. I miss her. I love her so much.”

Dessesaure, who is a truck driver, said he was in Maine when he learned that his daughter and grandchildren had been killed.

“A friend called me and told me that a man shot his wife and twins, so he thought it might be [Nina]. When the police called I just knew,” he said.

Nina Thompson’s childhood friend Shanee Winder said she still couldn’t believe her friend had been killed.

“I never in a million years thought I wouldn’t be able to call her and talk to her,” she said.

Nearly 100 people, including the twins' father Shawn Pugh, gathered in front of the home that Nina Thompson shared with her family. Dessesaure said he was grateful that the community was so supportive.

“Everyone really seems to care,” he said.

Kevin Fullerton, a neighbor and friend of Kelly Thompson, said he was relieved that even though Nina Thompson’s relatives made up a majority of the family members in attendance, everyone remained positive.

“I’m happy that no one was pointing fingers,” he said. “We’re not here to take sides. We’re here to support the families, both sides.”

Taishawn and Treshawn would have begun their sophomore year at North County High School in two weeks. Counselors currently are available at the school to speak with any students who would like to discuss the incident, school officials said.

According to police, a woman who said she was concerned about the wellbeing of her son, Kelly Thompson, and his family members called police to his home on Wood Street. When officers arrived and met with the woman, they heard a single gunshot come from inside the home, said Anne Arundel County Police Department spokesman Lt. J.D. Batten.

Batten said officers immediately entered the home to prevent further injuries if someone was actively shooting inside, but instead found the bodies of the four family members.

Friends and neighbors said they plan to light candles in front of the home every night for the rest of the week. Funeral arrangements had not yet been made, Dessesaure said.

"I'm laying the children to rest and then I'm out of here," he said.