4 found dead in Allen in apparent murder-suicide, police say

Allen police found four people dead Monday morning in what investigators say was an apparent murder-suicide.

Officers were called about 8:45 a.m. to a home in the 1200 block of Aberdeen Drive, near East Exchange Parkway and North Allen Heights Drive, to perform a welfare check.

Police said a resident of the house had been locked out for about two hours and other family members were not answering the door.

Other relatives also came to the house, police said, and officers were able to enter the home, where they found four people dead.

Police said the slayings were the result of an apparent murder-suicide but did not specify the exact nature of the deaths.

Police have not released the names of the victims, but the Islamic Association of Allen identified the husband and wife as Farman and Layla Sherwani. The family’s two boys — Shaheen, 12, and Mateen, 2 — were also killed, the mosque said.

According to the mosque, the family’s 4-year-old daughter, Lyian, died three weeks ago after drowning in a pool. Allen police Sgt. Jonathan Maness said the drowning was a factor in Monday’s slayings.

Allen ISD spokesman David Hicks confirmed one of the victims was a fifth grader who attended Olson Elementary School.

According to Hicks, Olson Elementary parents received a letter from the school’s principal Monday about the death. The letter said counselors would be at the school Tuesday.

“We are all shocked and saddened by this news,” principal Susanne Miller said in the letter. “I ask that you please keep the family and loved ones in your thoughts over the coming days and months.”

An Islamic funeral prayer, known as a janazah, was held for the family at the mosque a little after 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. They held two separate prayers for the two adults and the two boys.

Before the prayer began, Imam Abdur Rahman Bashir said the deaths are “really hard for us to even begin to imagine how to process.”

Bashir also acknowledged that the community has experienced a similar incident two years before, when six people were found dead in an Allen home. The association held a janazah prayer for that family then as well.

Bashir urged the community at the mosque to talk to someone they trust if the difficulties of their life are hard to bear. He also urged people to lend an ear for someone’s cry for help.

“A few minutes of time and care and attention may be the difference between life and death,” he said.

He said the association has partnered with the Muslim Association for Psychological Services and that licensed mental health professionals would be available later Tuesday evening for anyone in the community.

“We are all one ummah and one body,” Bashir said. “It is our job to be there for each other.”