(RNN) – The death of a mother and two of her three daughters last weekend in a California house fire was ruled a murder-suicide by police on Thursday.
Police in Vallejo, north of San Francisco, said in a release that Mau Dao, 47, “set herself on fire” in a “suicide and arson,” leading to the deaths of her 14-year-old twin daughters, whose names were Trinh and Tram Tran, according to local media.
“This was a tragic event for all involved,” Capt. Lee Horton of Vallejo Police said in the release. “Incidents of this nature are exceedingly difficult for the family, but also for the community and its first responders.”
A third daughter, 11-year-old Vy Tran, survived the fire with injuries “but is expected to make a full recovery” according to the police release.
A GoFundMe set up by a woman, identifying herself as Maryy Le, wrote she was the niece of Tuan Tran, her “recently widowed” uncle.
She wrote the page was set up to collection donations “towards planning 3 funerals for Mau Dao, Trinh and Tram Tran whom we lost in an early Sunday house fire.”
The page said, “We hope to receive donations that will also go toward supporting Tuan Tran, recently widowed, and Vy Tran, the sole survivor whom is only 11 years old to give them a helping hand to begin rebuilding their life,” as well.
She posted a link to a video tribute to the twins, posted to YouTube by their school’s wrestling team, which they belonged to. The video’s description said the sisters “brought so much life to our community through many endeavors which included wrestling and band.”
The GoFundMe had raised more than $8,600 toward a $100,000 goal as of Thursday night.
The fire, on Sunday, was originally thought by police to be “suspicious.”
Vy Tran, the 11-year-old girl, was able to escape the house and get the attention of an officer who had smelled smoke nearby.
First responders were able to rescue one of the twin sisters at the scene, but she later “died at a local burn unit.”
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