Kenneth Holmes, age 12
BY Kevin Deutsch and John Lauinger
DAILY NEWS WRITERS
Thursday, July 29th 2010, 4:00 AM
Frustrated over the demands of raising an autistic child, police believe, a Bronx mother shot the boy to death before turning the gun on herself Wednesday night, cops said.
Micaela Jackson, 37, and Kenneth Holmes, 12, both killed by a gunshot to the head, were found in bed in the single mother's apartment on Loring Place in Morris Heights, police said.
The suspected murder-suicide - the second in as many weeks in the city - left Jackson's family and Kenneth's father shattered.
"I don't see the reason for any of this," said Kenneth Holmes Sr. "We were just getting ready to go to Jamaica, and now this."
Holmes, who was not married to Jackson but remained close with her, said he was in disbelief because Jackson had just been promoted at her job at Montefiore Medical Center.
"She was at a good point in her life," he said, tears streaming down his face as he glanced at a picture of his doe-eyed, curly-haired namesake.
Cops were called to the tragic scene shortly before 7:30 p.m. after Jackson's sister, worried because she could not reach her, went to the apartment, police said.
The door was locked and fastened with a chain from the inside, a fact that strengthened investigators' belief that the deaths were a murder-suicide, police said.
The sister got the building's super to gain entry, leading to the awful discovery. A 9-mm. pistol was recovered close to the bodies of mother and son, police said.
Jackson's heartbroken family gathered outside the apartment building last night, some crying, others shaking with grief.
"She's a good woman. She's a good mother," said Jackson's cousin, refusing to provide a name. "We're looking for answers. It's just a tragedy."
Neighbors said they would often see Jackson early in the morning, putting her son on the bus before leaving for work.
Neighbor Esmerelda Diaz, 22, said she recently saw Jackson chase after her son as he darted across the street.
"She really looked stressed out. She was so tired of screaming at him," she said. "Maybe he pushed her to the extreme and it came to this?"
Holmes could not accept that possibility last night, calling his boy "a gift."
"He was autistic, but he had charm," the devastated father said. "He had a great smile. Even if you had an evil heart, you would still love him."
Last Thursday, the bodies of a young mother and her four children were found amid the ruins of their burned Staten Island home.
Detectives have not made a final determination in the case, but believe Leisa Jones cut the throats of three of her children before setting the blaze that killed her and her youngest child.
jlauinger@nydailynews.com
