Man kills ex-wife then shoots her mom as she held infant grandchild, Georgia cops say

A man died by suicide one day after he was accused of killing his ex-wife and shooting her mother, who was holding her 4-month-old grandchild, according to Georgia deputies.

Deputies responded to a shooting at a home in Canton at around 9:45 p.m. on Sunday, May 22, according to the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office. Canton is about 40 miles north of Atlanta.

Deputies found two people shot: 30-year-old Victoria Thomas, who was dead, and her 68-year-old mother, Myrna Garcia, who was severely injured.

Garcia had been holding her 4-month-old grandchild in her arms when she was shot, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office. The infant was not injured but was taken to the hospital for evaluation.

A 10-year-old child was also in the home at the time of the shooting but was not injured.

Garcia was taken to the hospital in critical condition, the release says.

The suspect, 30-year-old Christopher Thomas, who is Victoria Thomas’s ex-husband, had fled the scene by the time deputies arrived.

On Monday, May 23, at around 6 p.m., authorities in Paulding County responded to a suicide threat at a Walmart in Dallas, Georgia, about 40 miles southwest of Canton, according to a spokesman with the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office.

Detectives found that Christopher Thomas had shot himself, and first responders took him to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

This story was originally published May 23, 2022 at 11:42 AM with the headline "Man kills ex-wife then shoots her mom as she held infant grandchild, Georgia cops say."