Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins on Thursday released the names of a mother and her two young children who died Wednesday after falling from a parking garage on the campus of Northeastern University in Roxbury.
The district attorney's office is investigating the deaths of 40-year-old West Roxbury resident Erin Pascal and her two children, Allison, 4, and Andrew, 1, as a likely double-murder-suicide, Rollins told reporters.
“For a parent to come to a place in which they harm their children in this way indicates that their mental health struggles were severe and in need of immediate support,” Rollins said. “This Christmas Day tragedy demonstrates the urgency of addressing mental health, suicide and homicide. We have to do more to address these significant public health issues."
Rollins said Boston Police responded to a 911 call from Pascal’s address prior to the incident, but couldn’t reveal any details from the call. “We are still tying down exactly what may have occurred,” she said. “We aren't aware of any kidnapping complaints at this point, but the investigation is still very early on.”
Pascal lived with her children’s father in West Roxbury, Rollins said.
“This entire family, in a matter of minutes, aside from the father who survives them, is gone,” she said. “The level of potential despair that one must feel in order to engage in this behavior … there's help available, and we just sincerely hope people use it.”
Wednesday's deaths marks the third fatal incident at the Renaissance Park Garage in the past seven months. There was an incident on Dec. 9, and the May suicide of Alexander Urtula, a Boston College student whose former girlfriend, Inyoung You, is now facing manslaughter charges for allegedly pressuring Urtula to kill himself.
After the Dec. 9 incident, Rollins said she contacted Northeastern University, which owns the garage, to encourage the university to think about ways to prevent future incidents and implementing safety measures.
According to Northeastern spokesperson Shannon Nargi, the university put additional security staffing in place to patrol three multi-level parking facilities on its Boston campus, including the Renaissance Park garage, in early December.
“Following Wednesday's tragic incident, the university has indefinitely blocked both pedestrian and vehicular access to the top two floors of the Renaissance Park garage,” Nargi said in an email to WGBH News Thursday. “This restricted access will continue until a permanent solution is implemented.”
According to Nargi, the university is implementing 24-hour security staffing to monitor the Renaissance Park garage, and additional surveillance cameras to ensure full coverage of the top of the garage.
Rollins encouraged anyone who is thinking about suicide to utilize state and national hotlines, and said that if anyone believes that they or someone they know might be at immediate risk of harm, calling 9-1-1 is always an option.
If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) or use the Crisis Text Line by texting “Home” to 741741. The Samaritans statewide helpline is available via call or text at 877-870-HOPE (4673), and the Trevor Lifeline is available at 1-866-4UTREVOR (488-7386) for LGBTQ+ youth. More resources are available at SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources.
