A 32-year-old man allegedly had “won” an argument with his wife and killed her in their Pennsylvania home Thursday before driving to Staten Island with his two kids and committing suicide, authorities said.
The two children later told police that “daddy killed mommy” after Keith Belajonas left them in a Staten Island CVS and drove off to kill himself, said Upper Darby Police Superintendent Mike Chitwood.
First floor residents of the Drexel Hills duplex where Belajonas lived part time with his wife, Christina, called police after hearing a single gunshot. They then watched Belajonas drag his two young children to his car at about 2:30 a.m., Chitwood said.
A witness said his eldest son, 5-year-old Robert, kept asking “is mommy dead?” before being picked up and put in the 2006 Nissan Pathfinder, Chitwood said.
Belajonas, who split his time between the Philadelphia suburb and Staten Island, allegedly shot Christina in the head and stabbed her multiple times, Chitwood said. She was found in the hallway of their dirty and cluttered second floor apartment, leaning against a closet door, he said.
“There was blood all over the front door,” Chitwood said. “There was a trail of blood that went from the sidewalk all the way to the second floor.”
Shortly after shooting her, Belajonas allegedly posted on his Facebook page that he had an argument with his wife.
“She cheated on me I won,” Chitwood said he wrote.
Belajonas drove with his kids — Robert and 4-year-old Christopher — to Staten Island where he allegedly held up the Castleton Corners CVS Pharmacy where his brother worked at about 5:30 a.m., he said. Belajonas took cigarettes, beer and money before leaving the children, who were unharmed, and driving off.
About an hour later police found Belajonas in the same Nissan Pathfinder with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Someone had called 911 with the car’s description when they saw it parked on the corner of Barlett and Katan avenues in Eltingville, police said.
The children were taken to Richmond County Medical Center in good health.
The apartment the children lived in was extremely dirty, Chitwood said.
“A pigpen was better living conditions,” he said. “The whole apartment was cluttered with junk and trash and garbage. This is as dirty as I’ve ever seen.”
On Thursday the children appeared to be reunited with their paternal grandmother in Staten Island, Chitwood said. Their paternal grandfather, however, has also expressed interest in taking custody of the children, he said.
