Grandmother Finds Baby, 3 Relatives Shot Dead In Brooklyn: NYPD

BROWNSVILLE, BROOKLYN — A grandmother discovered her 1-year old granddaughter, son, husband and teenaged stepson shot dead in a Brownsville apartment Wednesday morning, police said.

One-year-old Laylay Briggswas found with her 27-year-old father, Terrance Briggs, in a bedroom inside a fourth floor apartment building on Thatford and Riverdale avenues some time before 5 a.m., police said.

The 53-year-old grandmother also found her husband, Loyd Drain Jr., shot dead in the bathroom and her 16-year-old stepson Loyd Drain III in another bedroom, said police.

Riverdale Towers resident Vanessa Swain, 51, was a friend of the grandmother and Drain, and knew them as Patricia and Big Daddy, she said.

“Patricia kept her family whole,” said Swain. “She loved her family beyond love.”

Patricia and Big Daddy were know for their generosity, cooking enormous meals for “anyone who was hungry,” Swain said.

Swain found out about the tragedy when a neighbor pounded on her door and told her “all of them are gone.”

“It breaks my heart to see him gone,” she said. “They had a perfect marriage.”

Investigators found a gun, shell casings and bullets in the apartment but could not confirm whether the shooting was a murder-suicide, said Brooklyn North chief Michael Kemper at a press conference.

“My heart goes out to this family,” added Assistant Chief Jeffrey Maddrey. “We deal with death and tragic scenes, but when it involves an infant, it’s extremely tough.”

The little girl was shot the same day as a nationwide school walkout, planned by students to demand stricter gun control laws.

Photos by Kathleen Culliton