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HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - The two boys who were killed by their grandmother before she committed suicide this week each had multiple gunshot wounds, the state medical examiner's office said Friday.

The examiner's office said the grandmother, 47-year-old Debra Denison, died of a gunshot wound to the head. The cause of death was formally ruled a suicide for Denison and homicide for the boys.

Police say Denison left a suicide note and took a revolver from her house before picking up 2-year-old Alton Perry and 6-month-old Ashton Perry on Tuesday afternoon at their day care in North Stonington. Their bodies were found in a van hours later after a frantic search.

Hundreds of people attended a vigil Friday night in North Stonington to remember the boys and support their parents, Jeremy and Brenda Perry.

Jeremy Perry told the crowd: "Your support is probably the only reason we're still on our feet right now," The Day of New London reported.

Family members said Denison, Brenda Perry's mother, had struggled with mental illness, but she had appeared to improve in recent months. She was on the list of people authorized to pick up the boys at the day care, and the boys' mother had told the center the grandmother would be picking them up that day. Tuesday was Alton's birthday, and she was supposed to bring him back to the house for a party.

Staff at the day care said Denison was friendly and showed no signs of distress. A spokesman for the slain boys' parents said the day care staff followed protocol and the parents do not blame them for what happened.

Alton died of gunshot wounds to the head and Ashton died of multiple gunshot wounds, the medical examiner's office said.

State police say they are investigating issues including who purchased the revolver, how Denison obtained it and her history of mental illness.


(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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    Michoacan wrote...
    The more typical use of handguns
    March 1, 2013 2:56 pm
    originally purchased for self protection. A Reason a family might take that same, accursed gunboats buybackprogram to have it destroyed.
  • Abuse
    Michoacan wrote...
    Yikes! Sloppy entry. As intended below:
    March 1, 2013 2:58 pm
    The more typical use of handguns originally purchased for self protection. A Reason a family might take that same, accursed gun to a gun buy back program to have it destroyed
  • Abuse
    yrreta wrote...
    You make a great point Micho,
    March 2, 2013 6:23 am
    and at the same time you acknowledge that it is not the gun at fault for this tragedy, but the owner/user. Also that a ban on assault style weapons would not have prevented this. You are starting to see the light. Downside is, you throw the family under the bus for not getting rid of the gun upon realizing that grandma was no longer playing with a full deck. Nice job.
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