Police are investigating the violent killing of an 11-year-old girl in her inner Brisbane home hours before her mother was found dead.
The girl was found by police in the bathroom of her family’s Auchenflower apartment about 1am on Tuesday in what acting superintendent Geoff Sheldon said was a horrific scene.
“Any death of a child is horrendous and this is particularly so, unfortunately,” he said.
The body of her mother, 49, was found about 5.30am by members of the public about 1.5km away in Toowong, where she appeared to have taken her own life, Sheldon said.
He said the deaths signified an “appalling tragedy” which had “come out of left field”, involving a family not previously known to police.
The girl lived with her parents and a younger sister, 8, who was not in the apartment around the time of her death.
Sheldon said police, who went to the Auchenflower apartment after receiving a call from concerned friends of the family, were now talking to the girl’s father, 65.
“He’s horrendously upset and he’s with us at the moment trying to explain what’s gone on in relation to the whole night’s affairs,” Sheldon said.
Sheldon said the “main focus” of police was “trying to ascertain how the … child died and who’s responsible for that”.
“We don’t know who fits where are as far the puzzle goes but I’m sure more will become apparent as we continue our investigations throughout the morning.”
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