The Colorado man who posted a chilling photo of himself and his 19-month-old daughter on Facebook moments before he shot the baby and then turned the gun himself, has died, ABC 7NEWS reports.
The Adams County Coroner's Office issued a statement confirming that Merrick McKoy, 22, had died but would not specify the cause and the manner of death. Citing the ongoing investigation, a coroner's official would not release the specific date that McKoy died, 7NEWS reports.
McKoy was transferred to the hospital after the deadly shooting at his ex-girlfriend's apartment, who is the mother of the slain child, 7NEWS reports.
Kim Phanthavongsa, 21, called the police on Nov. 18 to say that McKoy was standing over her with a gun. A fight ensued and Phanthavongsa ran out of the home to a neighbor's apartment. She told police that McKoy had a gun and was still inside the home with their child.
Police arrived and heard gunshots. When they entered the apartment, they found McKoy and the baby suffering from gunshot wounds, 7NEWS reports.
Family members told 7NEWS that Kim Phanthavongsa said McKoy shot the baby then himself. The baby, Mia Mckoy-Phanthavongsa, died later that day.
"She just learned how to walk," a tearful Vannatda Sivixai, a family member, said on the day of the shooting. "What an angel. Whenever she smiled it was bright."
McKoy's Facebook page showed a photo of him and the girl posted moments before the shooting. "Ima miss stall lol [sic]" and "Don't judge me had no choice [sic]," said the final two posts on his Facebook page.
A neighbor told the news station that McKoy was angry that Phanthavongsa had broken up with him. She said Phanthavongsa told her that McKoy threatened her.
"He would just say that he wanted to be with her and if he can't be with her, nobody can be with her," the neighbor told the news station. "I'm shocked. It's hard to believe that someone you know would do something like that."
Read more at ABC 7NEWS.