(WXYZ) — During a Wednesday afternoon news conference, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office provided updates on two separate tragedies that happened in recent days, with one of them being called a murder/suicide. The other case is not being classified, pending results from the coroner.
Watch Tiarra Braddock's video report:
Sheriff Troy Goodnough provided the update on the homicide-suicide in Bedford Township on June 14 and the two teen deaths in Raisinville Township on June 17.
Stories on both separate cases below:
Raisinville case:
The Monroe County Sheriff's Office said two teens were found dead with gunshot wounds outside of a vehicle in Raisinville Township Tuesday.
Watch Ruta Ulcinaite's video report:
According to deputies, dispatch received a call around 9:47 a.m. Tuesday regarding two deceased people on Heiss Road near Steffas Road.
WATCH: See video from Chopper 7 below
Deputies responded and discovered a deceased female and male, who both appear to be teenagers. One of the teens has been identified as 16-year-old Faith Hamilton. She is being called the victim in this case.
The other teen is 16-year-old Landon Bryan LaFond, and he is being called the suspect in this case. Both of them suffered gunshot wounds. The official causes of death have not yet been determined.
A GoFundMe account has been set up to help Hamilton's family.
Detectives are investigating, but the sheriff's office said they are confident there is no danger to the community.
“I was actually down there yesterday on the golf cart just tooling around … and there was nothing down there then,” said Tom Hannah, who lives nearby.
Hannah and other neighbors say this is abnormal for the area, and they're concerned about the manner of deaths.
The sheriff's office said there is no connection between this incident and a reported incident in Bedford Township from June 14.
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Bedford Township case:
Monroe County Sheriff Troy Goodnough says the deaths of two people in Beford Township over the weekend have been ruled a homicide and a murder.
The bodies of 17-year-old Gwendolyn Fay Smith and 33-year-old Ryne Jacob Leist, both of Temperance, were found sometime late Saturday or early Sunday in the 1600 block of W Sterns Road. Both had been shot and died on Saturday.
A GoFundMe account has been set up to help Smith's family.
The Lucas County Coroner's Office has ruled Smith's death a homicide and Leist's death a suicide. During a Wednesday afternoon news conference, police named Leist as a suspect in Smith's death.
Officials say Leist and Smith met when he was the bowling coach at Bedford High School.
Officials also say rumors that Leist was employed as a coach for Bedford Public Schools are untrue. Smith was a 2025 graduate of Beford Public Schools.
Officials say Leist was a "known acquaintance" of Smith and that there is no evidence they were dating, stating in a press release, "They were merely acquaintances."
