On the afternoon of May 4, Houston police in Texas responded to a welfare check at 2113 Kingston Street, the home of Matthew and Thy Mitchell and their eight-year-old daughter and four-year-old son, after relatives reported being unable to contact them.

Inside the home, officers discovered the bodies of all four family members, each with gunshot wounds. Based on evidence at the scene, investigators concluded that the husband killed his wife and children before taking his own life.

The house where the bodies of four family members were found on Kingston Street, River Oaks area, Houston. Photo: Houston Chronicle

The Mitchells owned two popular Houston restaurants: Traveler’s Table and Traveler’s Cart. Their establishments had been featured on several Food Network programs.

In 2023, a chef from one of their restaurants competed on "Beat Bobby Flay" and won against the celebrity chef. Last week, Thy Mitchell, a Vietnamese-American, chaired a Houston Restaurant Association board meeting attended by 50 restaurant owners.

Matthew and Thy Mitchell. Photo: Houston Chronicle

A neighbor stated that the Mitchell family had recently moved to the area. "It's heartbreaking. I was shocked to hear about the children. I just saw them walking near their home recently", the neighbor said.

This tragedy follows a similar incident six months ago in California, where Vietnamese-American businesswoman Paula Truong died by suicide after fatally shooting her husband and two daughters at their home. Truong had owned several coffee shops across the US but faced business losses and bankruptcy after the Covid-19 pandemic.

By Duc Trung (Sources: Houston Chronicle, KHOU 11, AP)