John Jefferson
Inset: David Weingarten (Colorado Springs Police Department). Background: The home in Colorado where Weingarten shot his wife and their 8-month-old son (KRDO).
A Colorado man who said he’d been hearing things before he killed his wife and infant son while their young daughter was at home will spend the rest of his life in prison.
David Weingarten, 31, was given two life sentences on Thursday in the deaths of Lizet Salinas Mijanos, 26, and their 8-month-old son Georgie Weingarten. He was convicted a day earlier of two counts of first-degree murder.
As Law&Crime previously reported, officers at approximately 6:55 p.m. on Feb. 1 responded to a 911 call from an adult male who reported a “medical emergency” in a single-family residence in the 3200 block of Heather Glen Drive, according to the Colorado Springs Police Department. Once there, first responders made contact with Weingarten, who reportedly said he had been “hearing things” before he killed Lizet and Georgie, local CBS affiliate KKTV reported.
“I just shot my wife and son,” he told the arriving officers, according to court documents obtained by the station. “I’ve been feeling not good lately and something just came over me. I don’t know what happened. I’ve been hearing things, and I don’t know what’s going on. My wife and son are both dead I believe.”
Officers then entered the residence, where they found Lizet and the baby, both of whom appeared to have suffered gunshot wounds. They were both pronounced dead on the scene.
The CSPD Violent Crimes Unit was called to the scene to take over the investigation, and Weingarten was taken into custody, authorities said. Upon questioning from detectives, Weingarten said that his son’s crying had been making him anxious and he had been having “bad thoughts,” the Colorado Springs Gazette reported.
He told investigators that earlier that evening, he went to his car and grabbed the gun he kept in the vehicle, then paced around his home before deciding to shoot his wife.
Weingarten then admitted to intentionally shooting his son.
When questioned by detectives as to why he shot the infant, he allegedly indicated it was because the boy cried too much, and it made him anxious, the Gazette reported.
Lizet and Weingarten also have a 2-year-old daughter, who was not harmed.
According to KKTV, the girl has been placed in the custody of Lizet Mijanos’ sister, Lizbeth Salinas. She told KKTV that she plans to raise the girl as her own.
“Well, we are trying our best to hold up for her. We have had a lot of support from our family, the community, and our church. So we are getting all the support we need,” Lizbeth told the station.
She also said her sister’s dream was to be a good mother.
“She was always serious, but once you got to know her, she was full of joy,” she said. “She would make jokes and be the silliest person. We talked once in a while. But not as much as I wish we did.”
A GoFundMe has been set up to help Lizbeth with the expenses of raising the daughter.
Law&Crime’s Jerry Lambe contributed to this report.
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