Man kills wife, stepsons in Forsyth County

FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — Forsyth County sheriff's deputies are trying to find out why a man killed his wife and her two kids Wednesday morning.

The shooting happened at a house on the 5500 block of Old Atlanta Road in Suwanee.

The sheriff says Matthew Fields, 32, called his mother around 6 a.m. and told her, "I've killed everybody and now I'm going to kill myself."

The victims killed in the shooting were Fields' wife Rebecca Manning, 37, and her sons, Jared Smith, 8, and Jacob Smith, 9.

The Sheriff's Office says the kids were asleep in their beds when the shooting happened.

"My heart just hit the ground. I can't imagine what would go through somebody's head to do something like this,” said Manning’s cousin, Justin Lankford. "No one in the world deserves this. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy.”

Manning's father, Jerry Manning, 75, is the surviving victim. Lankford says he was shot five times in total, at least once in the head and twice in the chest. He is in critical condition and unconscious at the hospital.

Police say Fields killed himself after calling his mother.

Lankford described Rebecca Manning as a devoted mother and said her sons were both very respectful. He says she and Fields met over the Internet.

Deputies say they were called to the house Tuesday night for a domestic abuse incident, but Rebecca Manning wasn't cooperative and told deputies nothing was wrong.

A woman who did not want to be identified said she was one of several who called 911 after witnessing a wild scene not far from the family's home.

"I was driving down Old Atlanta Road and coming against me in traffic was a red Miata with a black top and there was a woman on top of the hood hanging on and screaming,” she said. “I pulled my window down and asked if she needed some help.”

The witness says the woman, later identified as Manning, asked to be left alone.

According to investigators, Fields spent the night somewhere else and returned to the house in the morning to commit the crime.

Both boys were students at Johns Creek Elementary School.

A church has set up a fund for the family. If you'd like to help with funeral costs and expenses, it is under "Rebecca Manning and Smith Family Memorial" at any Wells Fargo bank.

WSBTV