Funeral set for Thursday in Brighton for victims of Novi murder-suicide
Visitation for a former Brighton woman and her two sons whom police say were victims in a murder-suicide is set tomorrow at First Presbyterian Church in Brighton.
Jennifer Woodard Schons, 38, was fatally stabbed with a knife, while 4-year-old Camden and 6-year-old Tynan were suffocated, according to autopsy reports. They were found dead Friday in their beds in the family’s home in Novi, about 30 miles west of Detroit.
Authorities believe 39-year-old Mark Schons, who owned a now defunct Howell party supply store, killed his family before inhaling the fumes from a charcoal grill inside his sport utility vehicle. His cause of death was listed as carbon monoxide poisoning. Police say they also found a knife inside the SUV.
Visitation is 5-8 p.m. Tuesday and 1-8 p.m. Wednesday at First Presbyterian Church on Grand River Avenue in Brighton. Funeral services are 11 a.m. Thursday also at the church.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Saint Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Checks may be made payable to SJMHS Ann Arbor, Attn: NICU In Memory of Jennifer, Tynan and Camden Schons, Office of Development, Saint Joseph Mercy Health System, P.O. Box 995, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-9736.
Jennifer Schons, who was a 1990 graduate of Brighton High School, was the daughter of Richard and Beverly Woodard.
A motive is unknown — no suicide note has been found — but Mark and Jennifer Schons were deep in debt, had filed for bankruptcy in December and were considering a divorce, although they continued to live together with their children in their home on Applebrooke Drive in rural southern Novi, police said.
A friend of the family called Novi police and indicated the children did not show for school and that their mother had missed a scheduled appointment with her friends Friday.
Shortly after noon, Novi police officers entered the family’s home near Nine Mile and Napier roads, and discovered the bodies of Jennifer Schons and her sons.
Mark Schons, 39, was discovered at around 2:24 p.m. that day in his leased GMC Acadia in the Walmart parking lot at Interstate 96 and Milford Road in Lyon Township.
