'Sweet' 10-Year-Old Calif. Boy Is Killed in Murder-Suicide by Dad, Who Had Lost Custody of Son

A central California community is rallying around the mother of a 10-year-old boy who was murdered last week by his father, who then committed suicide.

The murder-suicide happened on March 2 in Hanford, and authorities have confirmed the victim — Wyland Gomes — was at the center of a bitter custody battle between his mother, Christy Camara, and his dad, Victor Gomes.

The father, 43, shot his son Monday morning before turning the gun on himself.

Officers responding to calls of a possible shooting eventually found their way to Gomes’ home, where they found him dead with a gunshot wound to his head.

According to police, the father lived with his parents, who were home when the shootings occurred.

Wyland was still alive when police arrived, but died soon after arriving at a nearby hospital.

The Hanford Sentinel reports the father expressed suicidal thoughts in 2016, and a judge awarded Camara temporary sole custody.

Police confiscated a gun from Gomes after he threatened suicide in 2016. The gun used in Monday’s murder-suicide was legally purchased by Gomes the following year, after he was cleared by mental health professionals, according to the Sentinel.

Wyland’s murder happened during a supervised visit with his father. The court’s order required Gomes’ parents be present for all visits with the boy.

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Late last week, hundreds attended a memorial for Wyland in Hanford.

Camara spoke at the event.

“He would sit with other kids to make sure they had a friend. He was just that type of person,” she said, according to KFSN-TV. “No mother and her family should go through such tragedy.”

Wyland’s aunt, Christy Gonzalez, told the station her family is “crushed. It’s a terrible tragedy. There’s a lot of questions we don’t have answers to yet.”

Other relatives said that Wyland was the sort of kid who always had a smile on his face.

A GoFundMe campaign has been launched to help cover Wyland’s funeral expenses. The page description calls Wyland a “sweet” boy who “was so loved.”