Guyanese man, girlfriend found dead as Brooklyn cops eye murder-suicide

Jul 05, 2016 News

Cops found Elizabeth Thompkins and Christopher Pickering in their Central Avenue home after a relative of the victims discovered the bloody scene, police said. (New York Daily News)

Neighbors and family gather outside as police investigate the double fatal shooting.
(New York Daily News photo)

(New York Daily News) – A father of four and his 23-year-old girlfriend were found shot to death in a Brooklyn home Sunday afternoon, in what police are investigating as a murder-suicide. Police believe Christopher Pickering, 37, blasted Elizabeth Thompkins in the head in their Central Avenue home near Hancock Street in Bushwick, and then turned the gun on himself.
When a relative arrived home to find the bloody scene at about 5 p.m., a 9-mm. handgun was resting on Pickering’s chest, police said. Neighbours described the two as a quiet, seemingly happy couple. Pickering had three sons – one of them newborn – and a daughter, and worked at a waste-management company.
“He loved those kids so much. That’s really what I remember about him. He was always with them,” said one neighbour, who didn’t give her name. “I just don’t think he could have done something like this. It does not even seem real.”
Another neighbour, who identified herself as Latoya, said she rarely saw Thompkins, but she was typically quiet.
“You never heard them yelling and screaming. This is unbelievable,” Latoya said. “I can’t remember the last time I saw her, but she was very quiet like him. I never really spoke with her, it was mostly (Chris) who would say hi.” Pickering is said to be from Guyana, migrating to the US, a number of years ago.