4-Year-Old Girl Killed in Apparent Murder-Suicide at West Houston Home, Police Say

HOUSTON – A 4-year-old girl was fatally shot inside a west Houston home in what police are investigating as an apparent murder-suicide involving the child’s mother.

Vivian Savella, 4, was found with a gunshot wound Tuesday, Sept. 29, inside a home in the 300 block of Terra Reserve Place in the Memorial Reserve neighborhood off North Kirkwood Road.

Her mother, 35-year-old Cibelle Savella, was found with what Houston police described as an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. She died at a hospital the following day.

Houston police responded to the home at about 5:46 p.m. after receiving a report of a shooting.

Officers found Vivian on the third floor of the residence. Houston Fire Department paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene.

The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences reported that Vivian suffered a gunshot wound to the head.

Cibelle Savella was transported to a Houston-area hospital, where she remained until she was pronounced dead Sept. 30.

According to the Houston Police Department, witnesses who were inside the residence heard gunshots and forced their way into the child’s room. Police have not released additional details about what investigators believe happened immediately before the shooting.

Father says child was supposed to come home that evening

Vivian’s father, identified by his attorney as Aaron, released a statement saying his daughter had been expected to come into his primary care the same day she was killed.

“Our family is devastated. Vivian was four years old. She was loved without limit by her father, Aaron, and by everyone whose life she touched. There are no words for what has been taken from us,” the statement said.

The attorney’s statement said Aaron had followed court orders during a custody process and that a judge placed Vivian in his primary care Tuesday.

“She was supposed to come home to him that evening. She never did,” the statement said.

The information released by Houston police does not independently address the custody proceedings or confirm the father’s account of the court’s order.

HPD continues to investigate the deaths as an apparent murder-suicide. Anyone with information can contact the HPD Homicide Division at 713-308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.