A 23-year-old heavily pregnant nurse and her 2-year-old son have been shot dead by her husband after they got into a verbal argument, police said.
Officers arrived at their house in Van Buren and found Paiden Nicole Priest, her son Grayson Alexander Beckham, and her husband David Wayne Priest with gunshot wounds.
David was still alive when police found him but he later died at a hospital.
Police Sgt. Jonathan Wear said in a press conference after the incident: “This is one of the worst cases we’ve ever had to deal with. But we do believe that this was done by David Priest.”
According to reports, David was Grayson’s stepfather.
The couple’s Facebook profiles show that he and Paiden got engaged in June and tied the knot in August.
Before the shooting, David even changed his profile picture to a photo of him kissing Paiden’s belly with the caption: “My gorgeous and all-around amazing wife no matter what.”
It is not clear what the motive was but a neighbor had reported hearing an argument before they heard gunshots.
“Me and my wife were sleeping and we heard a gunshot. Then it happened again and we turned our light on and it looked like a gunshot came through our room from the drywall next door.”
The bodies were taken to the Arkansas State Crime Lab in Little Rock for autopsies.
Grieving friends and family have paid tribute to Paiden, her unborn son Elijah, and Grayson.
Deann Steele, Paiden’s mother-in-law, wrote: “I wish I could trade places with you all. My life doesn’t feel the same.”
Allie Price also wrote: “RIP to my beautiful cousin and her sweet babies. I know you and your sweet boys are up there dancing.”
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