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A father, mother and their three children died after the SUV the dad was driving went into a lake — deliberately, police say.
According to WKYC and the New York Daily News, 27-year-old Glenn Baxter drove the vehicle into the Tempe Town Lake in Arizona on purpose Sunday, police say, because he was unhappy about his separation and imminent divorce from his wife, Danica Baxter, 25.
Also in the vehicle were the Baxters’ three children, Zariyah, Nazyiah and Reighn, ages 1, 2 and 3, respectively.
The Associated Press reported Sunday that the Nazyiah was initially hospitalized in critical condition but was was pronounced dead later in the day.
The accident occurred about midnight Sunday.
“Officers got on scene pretty quick,” Tempe police spokesman Lt. Mike Pooley said. “When they got on scene, three jumped into the water immediately. One of the fishermen also jumped into the water.”
"It's absolutely heartbreaking," he added at a Monday press conference. "(Glenn) Baxter took deliberate action driving into that lake. It is obvious he did that."
The police believe this was a murder-suicide because surveillance video shows Glenn Baxter getting out of the vehicle for a moment to inspect the barriers on the edge of the lake, a barrier he would smash into moments later, killing all passengers.
The parents and the two younger children were taken to the hospital, where they were all pronounced dead. Detectives quickly realized the oldest child, Reighn, was still missing.
He was found the next morning strapped into his car seat in the upside-down SUV.
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