DashJ

The mother of two girls who was remembered as “the sweetest soul” was killed and her husband then killed himself in what Ellisville police are calling a domestic murder-suicide.

The bodies of 33-year-old Nichole Coney and 38-year-old Terrance Coney were discovered inside the living room of their home at 504 Dobson St. just after 5 a.m. Tuesday, EPD Investigator Kyle Pickett said. Both were pronounced dead from gunshot wounds and a handgun was recovered from the scene.

Officers had been dispatched to the residence after family members became concerned because the Coneys weren’t responding to messages, Pickett said. It wasn’t clear when the shootings occurred, he said. It’s likely that the noise went undetected in the residential area because of fireworks that were going off to celebrate the new year.

Nichole Coney’s older daughter is 16 and her younger daughter is in middle school. They are believed to be from a previous relationship, as Terrance and Nichole Coney had been together for only a few years. The girls are with other family members now, Pickett said on Tuesday morning.

“Any time kids lose a parent, your heart just breaks for them,” he said. “It’s hard enough losing a parent at any age. I can’t imagine having to do that as a teenager.”

Nichole Coney was a proud mother, said Nancy Ellard, her fellow pharmacy tech co-worker at Ellisville Drugs. The two were close and talked to each other all of the time, but “I don’t think there was ever a conversation we had that she did not bring her daughters up,” Ellard said “She loved her girls. She loved her dogs also. She never had a bad thing to say about anyone. She was truly one of the nicest people I’ve ever had the privilege to know. I am devastated that she’s gone. I will miss her dearly.”

There was no sign of a struggle or fight inside the house, and there was no history of domestic abuse, other than a dispute that officers were called to a few months ago and seemed to be resolved. Some family members did tell police that the couple argued regularly.

“It appears to be an argument that just got out of control ... it just blew up,” Pickett said.

Only three weeks earlier, Nichole Coney posted on Facebook pictures of just after she and Terrance Coney first got together beside a current photo of the couple with the message: “From year 1 to year 5 Happy anniversary ... I love you,” followed by heart emojis. At the bottom of one of the photos were the words: “The best thing we will ever hold is each other.”

There wasn’t much information about Terrance Coney. One of his Facebook pages shows that he is from McComb.

Nichole Coney was “very funny” — sometimes unintentionally — and she was tough but kind, Ellard said. She saw no evidence of problems in her friend’s relationship.

“If she was ever going through a hard time, she didn’t show it,” Ellard said. “She was there for me through one of the toughest times of my life just a few months ago. She was the sweetest soul. On the outside, she looked like she could take on the world. But she was so soft- and kind-hearted. She was just so genuine.

“There was never a dull moment working with her. She was a true joy to be around.”

She had German shepherds and posted a logo for “Dynamic Duos Kennel” that she described as her “work in progress,” with the goal of breeding and training K9s for personal protection.

The investigation into the incident is ongoing, but it is being listed as a domestic violence murder/suicide, Pickett said. “The Ellisville Police Department asks that the community remembers this family in their thoughts and prayers as they mourn the loss of their loved ones.”

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7rbHAnZyrZZOWua16wqikaKaVrMBwstGenJimlazAcLHLpaCsrpmhuaZ5wqisqaSVYrGmrcNmoKdlkaW9or7Ep6tmpaWnsaa%2BjKysopuZmbJwrdGtoJyklZSvdoTFa5ucal2WrniujGponp1dbrBxhIydnZ9slWiupq2XbmlnoKSiuQ%3D%3D