A 17-year-old mother and her 2-year-old son were both brutally killed by the family’s patriarch in Barangay Talogoy, Malita, Davao Occidental.

According to the Davao Occidental Police Provincial Office, the victims were identified as alias “Yangyang” and her young son, while the suspect is the head of the family, Aldrin Mansalayaw.

Based on the investigation, the bodies of the mother and child were already in an advanced stage of decomposition when discovered, indicating that they had been dead for two to three days. Both sustained hack wounds to the head and neck. A bolo (machete), believed to have been used in the crime, was recovered at the scene.

Police said the crime was discovered when the suspect’s mother visited the family’s home to see her grandchild. To her shock, she found the lifeless bodies of the mother and child. The suspect had already fled the scene after committing the crime.

It was also revealed that the suspect and the victim had previously undergone a barangay mediation on April 15 due to domestic abuse. The possible motive for the crime was jealousy, as the victim often teased the suspect, saying he was not the child’s biological father.

Meanwhile, on Monday morning, May 5, members of the Malita Municipal Police Station arrested the suspect after several days of hiding in a sitio within the same barangay. He did not deny the crime and admitted that jealousy and rage drove him to commit the act. He will be charged with murder with parricide, a crime punishable by life imprisonment.