Tragic Shooting: A 32-year-old Utah mother kills her three children before turning the gun on herself

The mother who shot her three young children inside a car outside their home before taking her own life posted a terrifying message on Facebook, referring to her children as “her life.”

Maribel Isela Ibarra, 32, was found dead on Tuesday night in West Haven, Utah, next to the bodies of her two daughters, aged one and two, and her son, age four.

Ibarra died and committed suicide, according to police, who made this announcement during a press conference on Friday after reviewing nearby CCTV footage.

Ibarra committed the horrifying crime sometime on Sunday or Monday night, and their corpses weren’t found until Tuesday at 9:47 p.m., when their family called 911.

Ibarra’s family was taken aback to discover that they had no idea about her mental health problems and that she just gave the impression of being a “loving mother.”

“Mis hijos son mi vida,” which loosely translates to “My children are my life,” was written in Spanish in her Facebook bio.

Ibarra was seen taking her children to the beach and to meet Santa, as well as posing on a statue of a rhino.

However, she altered the picture on her Facebook profile to a black mourning ribbon, expressing her deep distress over her mother Elvia Ibarra’s passing on April 1 at the age of 69.

Ibarra apparently changed her name to “Jya Canchola” on social media before to the murder-suicide, though it’s unclear what that means.

She appeared to have broken up with her husband when her mother passed away and moved in with her father, Jose Ibarra, who had been Elvia’s husband for more than 50 years.

The murdering mother, who was born in Mexico, was part of a large family that included four brothers: Christian, Angel, Jason, and Julio. She also has a minimum of nine nephews and nieces.

Jason is a local real estate agent with five daughters, Julio is a father of four, and Angel works as a biochemical engineer at the University of Utah.

The family released a statement saying, “We are going through an extremely trying period, filled with an indescribable sorrow in our hearts because of the priceless loss we have experienced—they were the center of our existence.”

Sadly, none of us in the family knew about her mental health. This shocks us because we have always considered her to be a loving mother.

“We are not sure of the exact causes of this tragedy, but we sincerely apologize.” We hope that this suffering will never have to be experienced by anyone.

The family counseled anyone going through a difficult time to seek help instead of burying their sorrows until it was too late.

“Speak up and trust that you can overcome any obstacle.” We really don’t know how to handle this as a family, but we’re trying our best to get through it since, as we’ve mentioned, the pain we’re feeling is beyond words,’ they said.

Because of this, even though it seems unfeasible right now, we ask that you honor our suffering in order to help us gradually begin the healing process.

We believe that God and the love we experience from the community will provide for us and guide us on a path that may ultimately lead to serenity.

“We are grateful for the prayers and support extended by the community.”

Speaking with the children’s father, Weber County Sheriff’s Office Lieutenant Terance Lavely said that the authorities were positive that no one else was involved.

We might never be able to answer that question, I’m not sure. “Obviously we can’t ask Maribel that, but she would be the best person to respond to that,” he said.

When police performed their investigation, it was unclear which of the two white SUVs parked in front of the house Ibarra and her children were found in the rear storage area of.

Friends, family, and neighbors laid a child’s toy bike in the front yard and arranged flowers and cuddly toys on the stairs as a sign of respect.

“These kinds of cases are very tough on everybody involved, as well as the community,” said Lieutenant Colby Ryan.

“Yes, it’s extremely difficult for our neighbors, homicide task force, officers, deputies, and CSI team whenever you may have small children die in such a way.”