Friday, July 30, 2010 03:21 AM
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Three women and a child in bed were shot to death during a family Thanksgiving gathering and a manhunt was under way i Florida early Friday for a male relative suspected in the slayings.
Police said that 17 relatives were in the house when the shootings were reported around 10 p.m. Thursday in Jupiter, a small coastal town about 90 miles (145 kilometers) north of Miami.
Jupiter Police Sgt. Scott Pascarella said they were looking for Paul Michael Merhige, 35, who is a cousin of the 6-year-old victim, McKayla Sitton.
The others killed were Merhige's twin sisters, Carla Merhige and Lisa Merhige, 33, and an aunt, Raymonde Joseph, 76, according to police.
Authorities said a fifth victim, Merhige's brother-in-law Patrick McKnight, was being treated at a hospital. His condition was not available.
"What led to this incident, we're not quite sure," he said. "It did not appear there was any altercation prior to this shooting."
Police said the home was owned by Jim Sitton, a photojournalist for WPTV-TV and father of te little girl killed. Sitton told WPTV his daughter was in bed when she was shot. He was at the party at the time of the shooting but was not wounded.
Yellow crime scene tape was stretched around Sitton's salmon-colored house, located in a well-kept subdivision of stucco homes. Several cars were parked in he driveway, and a crime scene van sat in front.
Sitton told local media that his daughter was supposed to perform Friday in a holiday production of the Nutcracker.
"God packed a lot of sweetness into that little body," Sitton said. "She's just our life. I don't know how we are ever going to recover."
The relationship between Sitton and Paul Merhige was unclear, police said.
Phone calls to a number listed for Paul Merhige ere not answered.
Associated Press writers Suzette Laboy and Tamara Lush contributed to this report.
