WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah — Neighbors in a West Valley City community remain in shock nearly a full day after five people were found dead inside a house late Tuesday, with what occurred in the home still a mystery,
"I feel like the neighborhood is at unrest right now, you know, nobody really knows how to react to what this tragedy has brought to our neighborhood," said Cindy Lewis, who has lived near the home for over 30 years.
Of the five dead inside the house on the 3700 block of Oxford Way, three were children aged 2, 9, and 11.
"The children is what breaks your heart," Lewis added. "That's the hardest part."
Lewis, who admitted to still trying to process what happened, did not know the family who lived in the house, saying they had been in the neighborhood for 3-4 years and had mostly stayed to themselves.
"We kind of just, you know, know the immediate neighbors around," she said, "and I think that's why it stays so, stayed so quiet and so peaceful for the most part."
Cindy Lewis shares what she knew about the family who lived in the home:
Another neighbor, German De Casa, echoed Lewis in saying that the family were quiet.
"We'd say hi and stuff and, like, they were always just being calm and peaceful," he said.
De Casa added that his father was somewhat close to the father who allegedly shot and killed the rest of his family. According to him, the man had been having issues with his eyes that brought concerns about keeping his job. When there was little movement outside the house for a few days, De Casa's father even believed that it was possible the family was on vacation.
"It's crazy because you just would never expect it," De Casa said. "There was never any issues. They seemed pretty peaceful, pretty happy family."
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In the hours after the discovery of the bodies, Lewis shared how her own family had reached out to make sure he was doing okay. She now wonders how her neighborhood will regroup from tragedy.
"When you take peace and something like this happens, that peace is really shaken up," she said, "and if we ever find peace again it'll be because the neighborhood comes together or we'll all find our own peace in our own ways with our families and whatnot."
Lewis acknowledged that she isn't alone in her disbelief over what happened steps away from the place she has called home for over three decades, adding that the loss of her neighbors will reverberate for a long time to come.
"I've talked to a couple of people around here and we're just all in shock, you know, and I think we're gonna be in shock for a while."
De Case hopes there's a silver lining to what happened and thinks it could maybe spur his neighborhood to become a little more tight-knit.
"Definitely makes you think to, like, check on your neighbors a little more, maybe build more of a community," he shared. "But everyone's so isolated nowadays, it's hard to know."
