Mother, grandmother of Milford victims doesn't believe there was a murder-suicide pact
Crystal Ortiz-Simpson, the mother of 31-year-old Mercedes Ortiz and grandmother of 3-year-old daughter Aloni Truong, doesn't believe their deaths were part of a murder-suicide pact.
The victims' husband and father, 31-year-old Davis Truong, indicated that was why he killed them after police found their bodies June 5, his arrest warrant says.
An investigation began after he was found with a gunshot wound to the head along Route 113 in Milford, court documents say, around 4:45 a.m. Police found a trail of blood leading to the nearby Brookstone Trace development and Truong told them "the incident" occurred at his home on Pebblebrook Drive, his warrant says.
He, Ortiz and their daughter lived with Ortiz's three daughters from a previous marriage (ages 17, 11 and 10) and two roommates, Ortiz-Simpson said. They were all asleep when police arrived, the warrant says, and discovered the bodies.
Ortiz and Aloni Truong were both shot once in the head, according to the warrant, and died lying next to each other, Ortiz-Simpson said.
"My daughter would never in her life do something so crazy, so asinine," Ortiz-Simpson said. "She had no idea."
What police say happened
After being treated for his wound, Davis Truong told police he shot his wife and daughter around 4 that morning, the warrant says.
He and Ortiz had previously discussed "that he was going to take his own life" and that "there was an agreement" he would kill her and their daughter as "a form of mercy killing," the warrant says. He added that he killed them "out of love and not hate."
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Davis Truong then shot himself in the head and lost consciousness, the warrant says, and "the next thing he remembered was someone helping him on the side of the roadway."
He was charged with two counts each of first-degree murder and possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony and jailed on a $2.2 million bail.
'Looking forward' to the future
Ortiz and Davis Truong first met when they were living in Ohio, according to Ortiz-Simpson. They moved to Delaware in 2017, she said, and were married just before the pandemic began in 2020. Ortiz worked in a nail salon, and Davis Truong was a stay-at-home dad, according to Ortiz-Simpson.
The day before the killings, Ortiz's 10-year-old daughter graduated from elementary school, Ortiz-Simpson said, and the family went out to Applebee's to celebrate. Ortiz's eldest daughter was set to graduate high school the next week.
"She was looking forward to all of this, all the pomp and circumstance, all the celebrations, everything," Ortiz-Simpson said. "So why would she agree to be killed?"
Another reason her mother doesn't believe Ortiz agreed to be killed is because of the love she had for all four of her children.
"She would do anything for her girls," Ortiz-Simpson said.
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Ortiz's remaining children are living with Ortiz-Simpson, "surrounded by love," she said. She believes the murders of her daughter and granddaughter were "cold and calculated" and doesn't believe a double life sentence is enough of a punishment for Davis Truong.
"I don't want apology," Ortiz-Simpson said. "There can be no apology big enough that I can say, 'You're forgiven.'"
Ortiz and her daughter will be buried in the same casket, Ortiz-Simpson said. A funeral is set for this week.
Shannon Marvel McNaught reports on southern Delaware and beyond. Reach her at smcnaught@gannett.com or on Twitter @MarvelMcNaught.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Milford murders may have been 'cold, calculated,' not 'out of love'
