A couple is dead after an apparent murder-suicide on the city's south side, according to Tucson Police, who say 22-year-old Jazmine Willock is dead, presumably killed by 27-year-old Taris Ford-Dillard.
Sergeant Kimberly Bay, with TPD, says Friday morning officers were called to the 5100 block of S. River Run Dr., just south of Irvington and west of I-19. According to Sgt. Bay, an employer called the police to check on Willock after she did not show up for work.
After police tried to contact her at the home, officers entered and found Willock and Ford-Dillard with obvious gunshot wounds. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.
TPD detectives working a Homicide/Suicide in the 5100 block of South River Run Dr. Sgt. Bay is on scene. Details to follow.
— Sgt. Kimberly Bay (@sgtkbay) January 19, 2018
Preliminary reports say it appears Ford-Dillard shot Willock before taking his own life. Investigators say the two had been in a relationship and both lived at the home.
Detectives are working to determine what led up to the shooting.
According to a July 24, 2017 indictment, Ford-Dillard had a history of abusing Willock. On July 12, 2017, he assaulted her with a deadly weapon, hit her on the back and head, and kidnaped her.
Ed Mercurio-Sakwa with Emerge! Center Against Domestic Abuse says it is difficult for a victim to escape these situations.
"It is really difficult for someone to escape that situation because there is financial limitations there is tremendous fear, there are often these threats that say if you tell if you leave if you do anything I don't want you to here is what I am going to do to you, to your family to our children and so that is very often the case," said Mercurio-Sakwa.
He says victims never have to deal with this alone and there is help available to those who need it. Emerge! Center Against Domestic Abuse offers a 24/7 hotline at (520) 795-4266.
