When officers arrived at the cottage in Byron, Wyoming, where Tranyelle Harshman (32) lived, after they received a 911 call from her threatening to take her own life, they found her barely alive and with the bodies of two little girls, ages 9 and 2 next to her. Two other daughters, ages 7 and 2, were still alive but severely wounded. All had a bullet in their heads.
The three survivors were rushed to the hospital. Harshman and the 2-year-old girl died shortly thereafter. The 7-year-old was admitted to another facility in Salt Lake City, Utah, for special care. According to a campaign started on GoFundMe, she is suffering from severe brain injuries.
Officers’ records show that during the phone call, Harshman spoke of “gunshots occurring inside her home” and had given directions on where to find the bodies of her daughters, two upstairs in cribs and two downstairs in a bedroom. The 32-year-old woman “believed” the girls were already dead and “would do the same to herself.” The dispatcher “begged the woman to stay on the line until emergency units arrived.” Still, Harshman replied that “it was too late” and “the call was disconnected,” according to a statement from sheriff’s office.
Harshman’s husband Cliff, the father of the two youngest children, told Q2 that he was “very angry about the decision his wife made.” At the same time, he asked the public to respect the woman, who suffered from PTSD and was undergoing treatment. “People don’t understand how mental illness isn’t just a willpower thing. It’s chemical imbalances in your brain. It’s damaged pathways in your brain. She was an incredible mom and she loved those kids.”
