Double Murder and Suicide in Suwanee

Suwanee police said Wednesday that the fatal shootings of three people at an apartment on McGinnis Ferry Road were a double murder and suicide.

Officers responding to a shots fired call just before 8:30 p.m. Tuesday found two women and a man dead in a unit at the Amli at McGinnis Ferry complex, according to Suwanee police Capt. Clyde Byers.

Byers told the AJC that Suwanee police investigators, assisted by the Duluth police crime scene unit, had determined that Michael Kenneth Turner, 40 of Lawrenceville, forced his way into the apartment of his estranged girlfriend, 24-year-old Tiffany Hulsey, and her roommate, 36-year-old Deanna Griffin.

"We believe that he shot both of the females and then turned the gun on himself," Byers said.

Police suspect that the killer was upset at being asked to pay child support.

An investigation is in preliminary stages, but evidence suggests that Kenneth Michael Turner may have spouted threats to co-workers at Wal-Mart in Suwanee hours before the killings, said Suwanee police spokesman Capt. Clyde Byers.

Byers said Turner worked part-time, possibly in a janitorial-type capacity. A Wal-Mart representative said Thursday that company policy prohibited her from verifying employment over the phone.

“I understood he was disgruntled about child support payments (but) it sounds like it may have been multiple things,” Byers said. “My guys are trying to look into those things.”

Investigators believe Turner fatally shot his estranged girlfriend and mother of their 8-month-old child, Tiffany Hulsey, 24, after kicking in the door of her AMLI at McGinnis Ferry apartment Tuesday night.

Turner also killed a Dacula woman police believe was staying at the apartment, Deanna Griffin, 36, before turning the gun on himself, police said.

Hulsey’s 5-year-old daughter and Griffin’s 7-year-old daughter witnessed the slayings, police said. All three children are in the custody of relatives.

No mention is made in the article of domestic violence, though most men who are asked to pay child support don't go on a killing rampage. One of the most dangerous times in an abusive relationship is after that relationship has ended. Men who are used to holding all of the power and control in a relationship begin to feel very threatened when that power is taken away. Many women we know never pursue child support, even though many really need it, because they fear their former partner's reaction to that request. They know that he could view child support payments as a further loss of power and seek to restore some of that power through tactics to invoke fear, such as stalking, violence, or homicide. Unfortunately, many women rely on child support to provide for their families and have no other choice than to remain connected to a man of whom they are desperately afraid.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Hulsey and Griffin families.