A welfare check on Mother’s Day led officers to a triple homicide in a home on Old Canton Road in Ridgeland, Mississippi. Seventy-six-year-old Ida Thomas Welch was found dead in the living room alongside her daughters, 56-year-old Vicky Renee Welch and 42-year-old Crystal Lynn Welch; all three had been fatally shot. Family members had alerted police on Sunday, May 12, 2024, after concerns about the occupants.

Investigators, with help from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, identified Ida’s son Ivory James Welch III as the primary suspect and say the killings occurred the day before the bodies were discovered. An arrest warrant for three counts of murder was issued after Welch fled the state; his vehicle was tracked through Dallas as he moved across state lines.

A multi-state manhunt involving the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force located his vehicle in Arizona. On Monday, May 13, Arizona Department of Public Safety troopers attempted to take him into custody; officers reported that Welch fired on them, they returned fire, and he was fatally wounded. Investigators noted Welch had a prior criminal history including domestic violence and assault charges; no motive has been released.

If anyone knew the victims or has information that could shed light on what led to this violence, please come forward.