WEST MEMPHIS, Ark.– Family members are seeking answers as police continue to investigate the deaths of a man and woman who were found at a home in West Memphis Monday morning.
West Memphis Police say they are still treating the deaths as a murder-suicide. They believe Barnes was shot and killed by Curtis Moore, the man she’d been dating, and Moore then took his own life.
Family and friends of Moore disagree. They think someone else was in the house. His niece claims she talked with Moore just seconds before he died.
“They trying to kill me, they trying to kill me. I said, ‘who trying to kill you,'” she said.
But police have yet to say if they have evidence that a third person was involved.
Nadia Eslinger, Barnes’ first cousin, said this has been the most traumatic thing her family has experienced.
“This is the most traumatic, horrific thing our family has ever experienced,” she said. “She was just an amazing person and she did not deserve this.”
She told WREG Barnes called her own mother sometime Sunday night or very early Monday morning.
“Her mom is still in a state of shock right now, so I don’t know exactly what the nature of the call was, but I know she did speak to her mom right before this incident occurred,” Eslinger said.
Eslinger said while both families are suffering, this isn’t the time for speculating on what might have happened.
“I just wanted to make sure that people understood nobody knows what took place in that house. The only two people who know are the two people who are no longer with us,” Eslinger said.
She said Barnes’ family members are putting their faith in God and their trust that West Memphis Police will examine all the facts to find out why the couple’s relationship came to this tragic end.
“We really can’t say the nature of their relationship because none of us had a “front row” seat. The last time I saw her and I spoke to her she was happy. It seemed as though things were going well,” Eslinger said.
Nedra Barnes would have turned 39 years old at the end of July.
We have reached out to the City of West Memphis to see if there are any new developments in the case but have not heard back.