4-Year-Old Boy Witnesses His 23-Year-Old Mother Being Shot And Killed

A 4-year-old child is believed to have witnessed his mother being shot and killed. According to Houston police, the child saw his mom killed in an apparent murder-suicide at a motel in west Houston.

Officials say the boy went down to the lobby around 12:30 a.m. and told the hotel staff his mother had been shot by a man. His mother, 23-year-old Brittany Smith, died instantly from gunshot wounds.

A security guard went to the room on the third floor to investigate and when he got no response, he opened the door and find the woman and a man both dead from gunshot wounds.

Police are not identifying the suspected killer, but says that they believe that he was "known" to Brittany.

Smith and a man she had a relationship with had been fighting over the phone for the past few weeks, according to family members. Smith's family members said the man was a Marine who unexpectedly arrived in Houston from California on Tuesday night.