Mother of La. Massacre Child Victim Wrote Haunting Post About Their Killer Years Ago

Seven siblings and their cousin were fatally shot by the children’s father in a domestic violence incident on Sunday, April 19

Shamar Elkins with his children.Credit : 

Shamar Elkins/Facebook

The mother of a young Louisiana girl killed in a massacre by her father over the weekend had made an ominous note about the man several years before the killings.

The shooting at a Shreveport, La. residence early in the morning on Sunday, April 19, claimed the lives of eight children: Jayla Elkins, 3; Shayla Elkins, 5; Kayla Pugh, 6; Layla Pugh, 7; Markaydon Pugh, 10; Sariahh Snow, 11; Khedarrion Snow, 6; and Braylon Snow, 5, the Caddo Parish Coroner’s Office said in a statement to PEOPLE.

They were killed by Shamar Elkins, who was later fatally shot by police while fleeing in a carjacked vehicle after shooting the children, the Shreveport Police Department said.

Seven of the eight victims were Shamar’s children, and the other child was a cousin, the coroner’s office said.

Two women were also shot but survived, per police. One of them was Shamar’s wife and the other woman, police told NBC, was his girlfriend.

A 12-year-old girl escaped by jumping off the roof and suffered multiple broken bones, police told PEOPLE.

Sariahh’s mother was once married to the shooter, according to the woman’s social media.

The mom, whose Facebook name is Christina Luvynhymdearly Snow, had shared snippets on social media around 2015 and 2016 of her then-marriage with Shamar, painting a picture of a volatile relationship.

In 2013, Christina gave birth to Sariahh, according to a Facebook post she shared on the girl’s second birthday.

Despite the joy exuding from those photos, other posts on Facebook show signs of Christina’s concerns about Shamar. In a post from December 2016, she wrote: “Wish i never met you Shamar Elkins,” tagging him.

On New Year’s Eve in 2015, Christina wrote about feeling loved by Shamar, however, the following day, she posted about being hurt because he allegedly would not let her move on.

It’s not immediately clear when the couple split or if Christina was the mother of any of the other children who were killed. An undated photograph shared with KSLA by family members show all three Snow children together in Halloween costumes.

Shamar Elkins.Shreveport Police Department/Facebook

Markaydon was the other children’s cousin, his father said on Facebook.

“I love u Mar’Kaydon nothing will ever change that,” wrote Troy Brown. “This hurts so bad, pls pray for me and Keosha Pugh on the lost of our only son and our nieces and nephews.”

A GoFundMe has been set up by Be The Village, a local community outreach group, to assist the families with funeral and memorial expenses as well as medical assistance for the surviving women.

“This is bigger than one family … this is about showing what community truly looks like in a time of crisis,” the organizer wrote in part of the fundraiser.

Police have not commented on a possible motive behind the shootings.

The “heinous” attack that has shaken the community was domestic in nature, police previously said.

The killer reportedly told family a week before the killings he had “dark thoughts” as his wife wanted to divorce him, The New York Times reported. When his stepfather told him he would get past it, Shamar reportedly said: “Some people don’t come back from their demons,” his family told the outlet.

Police Chief Wayne Smith said in an earlier statement that he has “never encountered anything of this magnitude” in his career of nearly 50 years.

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go tothehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.