The 7-year-old girl who was found dead along with her mother in an apparent murder-suicide in a tony Connecticut suburb was remembered for her “sweetness that truly captivated people.”
Layla Malon, a student at Coleytown Elementary School, was drowned last week at the family’s nearly $1.8 million mansion in the ritzy neighborhood of Westport, the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said.
“Layla possessed a sweetness that truly captivated people. She brought smiles, laughter, and happiness to all around her,” her obituary said.
“She loved and admired her big sissy Alexis, and was her Daddy’s little girl,” it continued.
A memorial will be held on Wednesday in Fairfield Center, followed by funeral services Friday morning at Willowbrook Cemetery in Westport.
The family’s home on Monday evening was the site of a makeshift memorial with a photo outside the gate of Layla and her mother, Tracy Do, 46, surrounded by flowers.
Officers found the bodies of Layla and her mother on Thursday afternoon while responding to a report of an unresponsive woman, police said.
Do died by suicide from self-inflicted “sharp-force” injuries to the torso and extremities, officials said.
No motive has been released in the case, but police said last week they’re still investigating the pair’s deaths.
“This is a horrible tragedy, and the police department is keeping the family as well as the community that was so deeply affected by this in our thoughts and prayers,” Police Chief Foti Koskinas said in a statement.
The mother and daughter are survived by Do’s ex, Eric John Malon, and the former couple’s elder daughter, 13-year-old daughter Alexis Malon.