11-Year-Old Killed in Apparent Murder-Suicide Remembered as 'a Kind, Sweet, and Beautiful Person in Every Way'

An 11-year-old daughter in New York and her grandmother were killed by her father before police say he killed himself.

The Brighton Police Department received a call about a female being found unresponsive and not breathing on the front porch of 50 Hollyvale Drive on the morning of Friday, Jan. 3, police said in a press release.

The female, identified as 11-year-old Anne Mancuso (also known as Annie, per a GoFundMe made for her mother, Sarah Liccini), was transported to Strong Memorial Hospital, where police say she died from “gunshot wounds.”

Upon further investigation, officers discovered a bullet hole in a window and open doors at the adjacent house, 60 Hollyvale Drive, leading them to the discovery of the bodies of 53-year-old Lawrence Mancuso, Anne’s father, and 74-year-old Mary Liccini, Anne’s grandmother.

Liccini was Anne’s maternal grandmother, per the GoFundMe.

“The investigation concluded that Lawrence Mancuso was responsible for the deaths of Anne and Mary before taking his own life,” police said. Mancuso and his daughter resided in different addresses, per the press release.

According to WROC-TV, 13 WHAM ABC and The Ithaca Times, Mancuso worked at Cornell University as the Assistant Dean for Human Resources in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations before going on a leave of absence in October 2024. PEOPLE has reached out to the university for comment.

In a statement, Brighton Central School District Superintendent Kevin McGowan remembered Anne as a sixth grader who “was known to her friends and teachers as a kind, sweet, and beautiful person in every way.”

“A thoughtful, caring student and very special friend, Annie was such a gift to her friends, family, and school community,” McGowan wrote.

Ashley Baker, the mother of Anne’s friend A’Laila, told 13 WHAM ABC that Anne was the first friend her daughter made in school.

“Annie kind of took her under her wing, showed her around, gave her a friend when she didn’t know anybody at all, and just made her feel more comfortable being in that new space, a new environment,” Baker told the outlet.

In addition to holding a vigil on Saturday, neighbors are showing their love and support after the preteen’s death by lighting candles for eleven consecutive days, per WROC-TV.

“We all wanted to start the new year off feeling hopeful and for the year to come. But something as tragic as this was – just shocking and, just soul crushing and difficult to even comprehend that something like this could happen, especially in our small community,” neighbor Susan Pearlberg told the news station.

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“It’s been overwhelming for the past couple of days in our neighborhood,” Pearlberg said.

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to 988lifeline.org.