Victims of Pennsylvania mass shooting included gunman’s pregnant daughter

The victims of a mass shooting in northwest Pennsylvania included the gunman’s wife and pregnant daughter, who was due to give birth Monday, authorities said.

Matthew Stone, 45, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound Friday after he opened fire at his home on Perry Street in Erie, Erie County Coroner Lyell Cook told NBC News on Monday.

Victims included Stone’s wife, Michelle Stone, 44; daughter, Angelina K. Stone, 24, who was pregnant; and sons Matthew Stone Jr., 21, and Jonathan Stone, 19, Cook said.

Angelina Stone was carrying “an unborn fetus who was supposed to have been born today,” Cook said.

Bystanders gather near a a taped off scene on a sidewalk where a broken door and bicycle can be seen next to parked cars outside of a house — Bystanders gather near the site of the shooting.Greg Wohlford / Erie-Times News via Reuters

Two other unidentified children, a 5-year-old boy and a nearly 2-year-old girl, who were also related to the shooter were killed inside the house, according to the coroner.

All six of those victims were found in the house, where they lived, while victims Twila A. Tanner, 51, and Lora Lee Roberts, 37, were fatally shot outside, Cook said.

Roberts was Michelle Stone’s sister and had gone to the house Friday at the request of Angelina Stone, who needed a ride to the hospital, said the victim’s friend Christine Tombaugh.

Erie, Pennsylvania, shooting victim Lora Lee Roberts. — Lora Lee Roberts.Courtesy Community of Caring

Tanner was a friend and neighbor of Roberts, and they lived just a few miles from the crime scene, Tombaugh said.

Roberts was active in local homeless advocacy work, so answering a relative’s call for help and bringing along a friend for assistance was typical of her kindness, Tombaugh said.

“Absolutely, that’s who she was,” said Tombaugh, executive director of the homeless shelter Community of Caring.

“Her passion in life was helping others. She had a giving spirit, a beautiful heart,” Tombaugh said. “Great mom, just a valued friend. She had a heart for the homeless and people in need, just helping whoever she could. That was her passion.”

Juicesiyah Alexander Ezekiel, the slain girl’s father, said he is struggling to understand why the elder Stone opened fire.

“I wouldn’t even put this on my worst enemy, man,” Ezekiel told NBC affiliate WICU of Erie. “It’s sickening.”

The girl was going to turn 2 next month.

“Her name is Amari’anna,” Ezekiel said. “She’s the most beautiful baby God could have created.”