Current Conditions
46°F - CLEAR
Michael Ryan Hollow was already dead from a single gunshot to the temple when police arrived at 15 Horseshoe Lane just before 11 p.m.
His 17-year-old girlfriend, Mae Marie Davis of New Providence, died at Lancaster General Hospital about 4 a.m., investigators said. Lancaster County Coroner Dr. Stephen Diamantoni said the girl had been shot twice in the temple.
Police on Thursday were calling the incident an apparent murder-suicide.
Neighbors told police they saw and heard the couple arguing outside the mobile home about 10 p.m. Police said Hollow shot Davis less than an hour later.
His body was lying on top of her in a rear bedroom when medics and police arrived, investigators said.
The presumed murder-suicide is believed to be Lancaster County's first since the mass shooting at an Amish school in Bart Township in October 2006.
"Clearly, this is a senseless and tragic loss of life," District Attorney Craig Stedman said Thursday. "The fact that they were so young and had so much ahead of them makes it that much more difficult to deal with and accept."
State police Cpl. Adam Kosheba said Thursday evening that investigators were trying to figure out what sparked the argument and how it escalated to gunfire.Investigators said the couple had been dating for about a year.
"The relationship had a troubled past," Stedman said.
Hollow shot Davis and himself with a .22-caliber rifle obtained from the Horseshoe Lane home, where he had lived with his parents and sister, police said.
Kosheba said the gun was within inches of Davis' head when it was fired. It was unknown Thursday if the girl was sleeping or awake when she was shot.
Alcohol may have played a role in the argument and shooting, investigators said.
"There were alcohol bottles laying about the home," Kosheba said. "Some were empty; some still had alcohol in them."
However, Kosheba said, only toxicology test results will confirm if the teens were drinking. Those results are expected within three weeks.
The teens were alone in the home at the time of the shooting and had been for some time before the shots were fired, police said.
(419) (365) (319) (289) (232) (175) (125) (104) (75) (74) (55) (37) (30) (6) (2) (2) (2)Hollow's parents, Gary and Lisa Hollow, were at work, and his sister was with her husband a couple of houses away. She returned to find the grisly scene about 10:40 p.m., police said.
An unidentified neighbor said Hollow's sister came to her door after finding the bodies. The neighbor said she had heard the couple arguing earlier in the night, according to a published report.
First responders found both teens on the bed. Davis was still alive and lying face up. Hollow's lifeless body was laying face up across the girl's legs.
The weapon was still in his hand, Kosheba said. Police recovered the gun.
Davis was rushed to Lancaster General Hospital and died there at 4:05 a.m. Thursday.
Deputy coroner Jim Lingg pronounced Hollow dead at the scene just after midnight.
"He was a very, very good guy," the neighbor said of Hollow, according to a published report, "just very troubled. … He's been in and out of rehab. He's threatened suicide. He's a good guy, but he has problems."
Neighbors who talked to police said they didn't hear any gunshots.
"It's a relatively small caliber, so they probably couldn't have heard it," Kosheba said.
Diamantoni said autopsies were performed on both teens Thursday morning.
The post-mortems confirmed the teens died of gunshot wounds to the head, Diamantoni said. The three slugs were removed during the autopsies, the coroner said.
The coroner ruled Davis' death a homicide and Hollow's a suicide.
Diamantoni said the murder-suicide was one of his more tragic assignments since becoming coroner in January.
"It's difficult," Diamantoni said. "I think it's always difficult when young people end their lives or have their lives ended."
Hollow dropped out of Solanco High School last year, according to a published report.
Davis was reportedly home-schooled, finishing last year.
E-mail: bhambright@lnpnews.com
