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Mother texts ex ‘say goodbye to your son’ before killing toddler, self, sheriff says

 

SAN ANTONIO (Gray News) – Authorities in Texas have revealed the disturbing details related to an apparent murder-suicide in which a mother allegedly fatally shot her 3-year-old son and herself.

Savannah Kriger, 32, and her 3-year-old son, Kaiden Kriger, were found dead March 19 in a drainage ditch near Tom Slick Park in San Antonio. The discovery came several hours after an Amber Alert was issued for the boy.

The medical examiner’s office ruled Kriger’s death a suicide and Kaiden’s death a homicide. Both were found with gunshot wounds, according to Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar.

Salazar shared a timeline of events in relation to the case at a Wednesday news conference.

The sheriff says Kriger left work early March 18 and went to her ex-husband’s house, where she allegedly damaged his clothes, furniture and some other items.

Kriger left her ex-husband’s house and returned to her own home, where Salazar says she laid out wedding dresses and wedding portraits on the bed. She then allegedly fired two shots into the portraits.

About 2:30 p.m., Kriger checked Kaiden out of daycare, according to Salazar. She then called her ex-husband, who was at work, over FaceTime. In the recorded call, Kriger allegedly said, “You don’t have anything to go home to now. You really don’t… And you won’t have anything at all at the end of today.”

Half an hour later, Kriger and her son arrived at the park where their bodies were later found. She made two attempts to call her ex-husband over FaceTime again, Salazar says. She allegedly wrote a final text message that read, “Say goodbye to your son.”

After failing to reach her ex-husband, Kriger recorded a video showing herself and Kaiden. Salazar says in the video, it appears they were already in the drainage ditch. He says that Kriger told Kaiden to “say bye to daddy,” and the boy did so.

The bodies of Kriger and her son were found about 19 hours later. Investigators had been searching for the two since receiving a call for a welfare check about 6:30 p.m. on March 18, according to Salazar. During that time, an Amber Alert was issued for Kaiden.

Investigators believe Kriger and her son were dead for several hours before they even received the call for a welfare check. Salazar says a gun was found near Kriger at the crime scene, and the shell casings from the scene matched those from her home.

Kriger and her ex-husband were in the middle of a custody battle regarding Kaiden, according to Salazar. A court hearing in the case was scheduled for March 19, the day Kriger and Kaiden’s bodies were found.

 

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