Grandmother In Connecticut Murder-Suicide

A 47-year-old grandmother has shot dead her two young grandchildren before taking her own life.

The bodies of Debra Denison along with two-year-old Alton Perry and six-month-old Ashton Perry were found in a car parked near a lake in Preston, Connecticut.

Police say Denison picked up the boys from daycare and was supposed to bring them home so the two-year-old could open his birthday presents, but instead drove them to a neighbouring town where she shot the children and herself.

Family members said Denison, the boys' maternal grandmother, had a history of mental health problems. Marcia White, a paternal great-grandmother of the slain boys, said Denison struggled with bouts of depression.

The boys' parents told WVIT-TV that Denison had split personalities and WFSB-TV reported that family members described her as having bipolar disorder.

Alton's mother, Brenda Perry, told the station: "I wanted him to come home and play with his new toys and have a good day."

Nikki Salaun, director of the Kidds & Co daycare centre in North Stonington, said Denison was friendly and talkative when she picked up the children and did not give any indication of distress.

Ms Salaun and the daycare centre's co-owner, Christine Hare, said they felt there was nothing they could have done differently.

After helping Denison to her van with the children, they discovered she had taken the wrong car seat. When they could not get in touch with her by phone, they alerted the boys' mother and police soon issued an alert.

Marcia White, a paternal great-grandmother of the slain boys, said Denison insisted on picking up the children alone even when their mother asked her to bring along another relative.

Denison also had a 13-year-year-old son and, in her suicide note, she said in part that God was watching over him on Tuesday, Ms White said.