“MOM, WHY DOES DAD WANT TO HURT US?” 😢 The pain in their voices is unbearable — just moments before Thy Mitchell’s children lost their lives at the hands of their father. Matthew Mitchell, a well-known restaurateur in Houston, allegedly killed his wife and kids before taking his own life. The question they asked their mother, “Why does dad want to hurt us?” echoes in the minds of everyone who hears it. What was going on in that house that led to such a heart-wrenching end?

Houston restaurateur allegedly shot his wife and 2 kids before turning the gun on himself

HOUSTON (TCN) – A restaurateur whose eatery was profiled on Guy Fieri’s “Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives” allegedly fatally shot his wife and their children before taking his own life.

According to the Houston Police Department, officers were called on May 4 to perform a welfare check at the home of Matthew Mitchell, 52, and Thy Mitchell, 38. The caller was concerned that they had not heard from the family since the previous night. 

When officers arrived, they found the couple deceased from gunshot wounds, as well as the bodies of their children, 8-year-old Maya Mitchell and 4-year-old Max Mitchell. Based on evidence at the scene, police determined that Matthew Mitchell had shot the other family members before fatally shooting himself.

NBC News reports the Mitchells owned two popular Houston, Texas, restaurants, Traveler’s Table and Traveler’s Cart. Traveler’s Table had been featured on Guy Fieri’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” television series.

According to the New York Post, Matthew Mitchell worked as a journalist and in the pharmaceutical industry before entering the restaurant space. Thy Mitchell had long worked in her family’s Vietnamese restaurants and the couple met via a common interest in travel and food.

NBC reports that according to a spokesperson for the restaurants, “[Thy] was a devoted mother and businesswoman, and we are completely devastated and heartbroken a million times over again. … If there was one thing about Thy, it’s that she was always on her own journey — always looking for the next adventure, and we had a blast doing it together.”

A motive in the killings has not been released, according to the New York Post.

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