North Carolina police officer and his wife found dead in alleged murder-suicide

RALEIGH, N.C. (TCD) — Officials are investigating the recent deaths of a 53-year-old police officer and his 44-year-old wife as a murder-suicide.

In a press conference, Fayetteville Police Chief Kemberle Braden said officers responded to the 1300 block of Vandenberg Drive on April 28 after Domingo Tavarez-Rodriguez failed to show up for work.

At the scene, Fayetteville Police gained access to the home, where they found Tavarez-Rodriguez and his wife, Yenitza Arroyo-Tavarez, deceased from apparent gunshot wounds. The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation assumed the investigation because the case involves an active Fayetteville Police officer.

According to the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, a preliminary autopsy report showed Arroyo-Tavarez died from multiple gunshot wounds, while Tavarez-Rodriguez died from a single gunshot wound. Based on the findings, investigators believe the couple died in a murder-suicide and said no one else was involved.

Tavarez-Rodriguez had reportedly been an officer with the Fayetteville Police Department since June 2021.