Murder-suicide suspected in Ball Ground house explosion | News

BALL GROUND, Ga. -- The three victims of a house fire in Ball Ground last month were killed in a murder-suicide, the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office announced Friday.

Ricky Norrell, his wife Darlene and the couple's 19-year-old daughter Lindsey were found dead inside their burning house on July 18.

On Friday, the Medical Examiner at the GBI Crime Lab announced that Darlene and Lindsey Norrell both died of gunshot wounds to the head, according to Cherokee Sheriff's spokesman Lt. Jay Baker.

The remains of a .22 rifle were found beside Ricky Norrell's body, Baker said. The Medical Examiner determined Norrell died of a head wound, believed to be a gunshot wound.

Evidence led investigators to believe that Ricky Norrell fatally shot his wife and daughter before turning the gun on himself, Baker said.

The cause of the house fire is still under investigation.