Nurses at Cardon Children's Medical Center in Mesa found the woman and
her 5-year-old child dead inside the child's room while conducting a 2
a.m. bed check Saturday, Mesa police spokesman Steve Berry said.
"Every two hours they do a check," Berry said. "They were seen alive and fine at midnight and then found at 2 a.m."
The mother had a fatal gunshot wound, Berry said. He could not describe how the child died.
Upon finding the pair, the nurses immediately called for trauma units as
well as security. An off-duty police officer was already working at the
hospital, according to authorities.
Investigators believe the mother killed the child and then herself.
Nobody at the hospital recalls hearing any gunshots or suspicious
activity, Berry said. The boy was in a private room.
Berry told KPHO-TV that the woman was
27-year-old Tammy Griffith, and the 5-year-old's name was Helious.
Police have completed their investigation of the scene and the room has
been turned back over to the hospital. No one else in the hospital was
threatened or harmed.
A representative for the Banner Health system declined to comment when reached Saturday.
According to police, the boy had been hospitalized for the past week.
Berry declined to say why the boy was hospitalized, citing privacy
rules.
The mother currently had an open case with the Arizona Department of Child Safety but she was the boy's legal guardian, Berry said.
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