News

Hero Toddler Kept Infant Brother Alive After Spending Days With Parents’ Dead Bodies

NewsPublished Apr 26, 2019
By Genny Glassman
Husband shoots wifeKTLA 5

A 3-year-old girl from Los Angeles has stunned police and is being hailed as a hero after she managed to keep herself and her infant brother alive through a family tragedy. The girl's father allegedly shot her mother and then fatally turned his gun on himself in a likely murder-suicide, leaving the two young children helpless and alone with both parents' dead bodies.

The children were only later discovered when a family friend and neighbors went to check on the couple's home and found the stranded children -- days after their parents' deaths. Now, the young girl is being credited with saving her brother's life.

The 3-year-old kept herself and her 2-month-old brother alive for "several days" after their parents' murder-suicide.-placeholder
The 3-year-old kept herself and her 2-month-old brother alive for "several days" after their parents' murder-suicide.
CBS Los Angeles

The 3-year-old kept herself and her 2-month-old brother alive for "several days" after their parents' murder-suicide.

Authorities say it's a miracle that these children survived after being discovered alone with their dead parents on April 14, according to Fox 5. Police responded to a welfare check requested by a family member of David Kooros Parsa, 46, and his wife, Mihoko Koike Parsa, 38, around 9 that morning. But they left after finding nothing wrong.

It was only later, hours after police left, that a family friend entered their home with a locksmith, along with neighbors of the couple, and discovered the bodies of the man and the woman. 

According to CBS Los Angeles, police came back to the home in response to an “assault with a deadly weapon/shots fired” about 4:30 in the afternoon. It was then that they discovered the dead couple in the upstairs bedroom from apparent gunshot wounds.

That's when they found the couple's daughter and newborn son alive in the home.-placeholder
That's when they found the couple's daughter and newborn son alive in the home.
KTLA 5

That's when they found the couple's daughter and newborn son alive in the home.

Neighbors Olivia and James Robinson discovered the two children downstairs. "He (my husband) grabbed the gun and he told me to come over, and he gave me the little girl, and she’s obviously traumatized,” Olivia told CBS Los Angeles.

“I begged him not to go back in there, but he went back in there because they wanted to find the baby,” she continued.

The kids were unharmed but hungry and dehydrated. "She obviously was in bad condition because she reeked really bad of urine," Olivia Olivia said. "And she had more of a blank stare on her face. She was very, very quiet."

When Olivia asked where the girl's parents were, she said they were sleeping upstairs, but added that they were hurt. 

“We’ve been married 33 years. I’ve just never seen that look on his face. It’s really traumatizing,” Olivia said of her husband after he discovered the bodies.

Tony Medina, another neighbor, was there as well and he offered to take the 3-year-old in to his home and feed her while waiting for police to arrive."She heard her mom crying, and then what really was kind of heartwrenching was when she said she saw 'mommy was broken,'" Medina said.

Police are praising the girl for taking care of her brother throughout the chaos.

"Our little angel was able to keep herself and her brother alive," Los Angeles Police Captain Maureen Ryan said. "The baby is a miracle baby and the little girl is a hero. She's an absolute hero."

On Tuesday authorities shared that both children are in good health. The kids have since been taken into the custody of the Los Angeles County Department of Children’s Family Services.

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