The mother-of-six who was killed in a murder-suicide in Michigan “likely died earlier” than her six children, police told a local outlet.
Kristopher Karolkiewicz, 47, and Amanda “Mandy” Karolkiewicz, 39, were found dead along with their six kids – aged 5 to 15 – after being shot in the head, according to death certificates obtained by News 8.
Police previously revealed that autopsy results showed that the mom and children were killed, while the dad died by suicide.
Ottawa Sheriff’s Office Capt. Jacob Sparks told News 8 in an email that evidence and autopsy results suggest Amanda Karolkiewicz “likely died earlier than the children.”
A death certificate for the mom lists her date of death as “on or after” July 23 — but also notes the date of injury as July 24, the outlet reported.
However, all six children — Keegan, 15, Bennett, 12, Smith, 11, Ella, 11, Caroline, 11 and Theodore, 5 — and Kristopher Karolkiewicz died on July 24, the certificates seen by the outlet state.
“We don’t have an exact timeline yet and are still working to establish that,” Sparks told the outlet.
The times of death are marked “unknown” and the documents indicate that each of them died immediately or within seconds of being shot, according to the outlet.
Officials said their bodies were found in different bedrooms throughout the Grand Haven home.
The dad also set the house on fire after the killings, officials said, and at least three dogs and a cat died in the blaze.
The Ottawa Sheriff’s Office did not immediately return a request for comment.
Amanda Karolkiewicz was a beloved substitute teacher and a children’s book author.
She penned “The Magical Mantra: A Tiny Book About Self Talk” in 2022, dedicated to her six children, two of whom were adopted.
But Amanda Karolkiewicz had allegedly shared a darker glimpse into her life in explosive Reddit posts — accusing her husband of having an affair with a younger intern.
The mom wrote on Reddit under the username MandyK1179, the Holland Sentinel reported after independently confirming the authenticity of the account.
In one 2024 post seen by the outlet, she described how she met her older husband while she was working as an intern.
“He was divorced and older than me … fast forward ten years and five kids, he was cheating with the intern again — the same age I was when I was the intern,” she allegedly wrote.
“After about a year of self-loathing, I remember crying and looking at myself in the mirror and realizing how… it was that I was the one who was living so miserably because of what he did,” she claimed.
“I finally realized that I had been the only person who has ever showed up for myself my whole entire life.”
However, family spokesperson Emily Jones told News8 of the posts: “I do want to make it clear that we have no way to confirm that that was Mandy that made the posts.”
