14 DAY TRIAL // A standoff in New Jersey has ended in a suspect being killed by police. Authorities have stormed the home where he was keeping three children hostage.
According to NJ.com, police fatally shot 38-year-old Gerald Tyrone Murphy, saving the kids he was holding in the house.
The operation took some 37 hours and ended when officers used a flash-bang grenade to get inside the house in Trenton.
Police found the decomposing bodies of the children's mom, Carmalita Stephens, 42, and of their 13-year-old brother in the house.
“Following our entry, a single shot was fired by our entry team to stop a threatening action against one of the children by Murphy.
“Murphy was wounded, taken into custody. He has since died of his injuries,” New Jersey State Police superintendent Col. Rick Fuentes says.
The woman and her son may have been killed 12 days before being found, on May 12, at 3:45 a.m. The suspect also threatened to attack police with firearms and explosives if they were to break in.
“[Officers] made a forced entry to the home through a rear door and immediately smelled an odor consistent with a decomposing body. [...] The officers also noticed maggots throughout the residence,” Trenton Police Director Ralph Rivera Jr. describes.
Police were able to rescue a 4-year-old boy, a 16 and an 18-year-old girl who were trapped in the room with the suspect.
Police believe that the suspect has killed their mother, then locked them up in the room where they have been found.
“I have every reason to believe that the kids were in the room and that they were possibly restrained during that period of time,” Mercer County Prosecutor Joseph adds.
They found another one of their siblings locked in the basement. The 19-year-old boy, who has been described as an autism sufferer, hasn't had contact with the family since April 24.