CHERRYHILL TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Three teenagers, including a high school football player, are in police custody after a man and a woman were found dead early Thursday morning in a Cherryhill Township home, according to Indiana County District Attorney Patrick Dougherty.
Police are investigating the deaths as a double homicide.
Officials identified the victims as Tim Gardner, 26, and Jackie Brink, 20. Gardner’s two children, 1 and 3 years old, were found unharmed inside the home.
“They're two adults, and Jackie might have been Tim’s girlfriend, but she loved the hell out of those boys. She loved the hell out of them. So now two boys don't got their dad,” Ken Gardner, Tim Gardner’s father, told Channel 11’s Melanie Gillespie.
Tim Gardner’s sister, Celeste Gardner, also spoke with Gillespie, describing her brother as a loving and generous man.
“My brother was one of the most giving men in the world. He would've gave you the shirt off his back, if he had to. He tried to act like a tough guy ... he was the gentlest guy in the world,” Celeste Gardner said.
Dougherty said during a news conference Thursday afternoon that it is believed the incident started as a robbery at the home on Hillside Drive and that safe was taken. Authorities were called about 12:40 a.m. after a neighbor heard a disturbance.
“This does not appear to be a random incident. It appears this was a targeted incident and people all knew each other and went there for a purpose,” Dougherty said.
Details of how Tim Gardner and Brink were killed have not been released, and a clear motive has not been established by investigators.
“Until we have all of our facts in order, we really don't want to speculate on what might be the motive involved here,” Dougherty said.
Nathan Price, 18, Justin Stevenson, 19, and Isaiah Scott, 17, were arrested and are facing criminal homicide charges. Although Scott is a juvenile, he is being charged as an adult.
“The way I see it, you take a life, they should take yours,” Ken Gardner said.
“I hope you rot in hell,” Celeste Gardner yelled to one of the teenagers as he was escorted by state police troopers.
According to a criminal complaint, Scott, a senior running back for Penns Manor High School’s football team, told police that Price asked him to hang out and went to Tim Gardner’s home to buy drugs. But once he saw Price and Stevenson pull out a chrome pipe and a hunting knife, Scott claims he ran and didn’t see Price and Stevenson until they got into a car to leave.
Meanwhile, Price’s version of what happened pinned most of the crime on Stevenson.
Gillespie learned that Price told detectives that he and the other two teenagers went to the house to rob Tim Gardner of drugs and money. He allegedly said that Stevenson hit Tim Gardner’s head and neck with the pipe.
However, Stevenson told police that Price killed Brink because he allegedly said there couldn’t be any witnesses.
According to police, the three suspects drove to Glen Campbell after the murders and opened the safe they had stolen. Stevenson said he took $200 and Scott got marijuana, but was unsure of what Price took.
Celeste Gardner told Gillespie that her brother, a Marine, previously endured heartbreak.
“He had a little girl that passed away. She passed away from SIDS. It was four years ago the beginning of this month, so we're just hoping he's up in heaven with his little girl, watching down on his boys,” she said. “I just hope they know what they really did. Now two little boys that adored their father now don't have him.”