Police: Delta Twp. murder-suicide leaves two kids, father dead

DELTA TWP. — Police have confirmed that a 47-year-old father shot and killed his two young children before dying by suicide. 

The Eaton County Sheriff's Department was called at about 11 p.m. Tuesday to a home on Old River Trail in Delta Township, according to a news release. 

Inside the home, they found 5-year-old Vivian Zwick and her father, 47-year-old Joseph Lechleitner, dead from gunshot wounds, according to police. Vivian's brother, Anson Zwick, 3, was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. 

Anson died Wednesday night, police said. 

Police said the investigation shows Lechleitner shot both children, then himself. Lechleitner lived in the Shingleton area of the Upper Peninsula, police said. 

"We are so sorry for the surviving family," sheriff's department spokesperson Jerri Nesbitt said in a news release. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to them."

Two neighbors, Karlie Carter and Ethan Bensinger, said the kids lived with their mother in the Delta Township home and Lechleitner came to visit about once a month. 

Carter said the kids were awesome. The daughter was always “super positive and fun.” 

“Super great family, and they were always outside doing stuff,” Carter said. 

She said she saw the family take the kids to the nearby park in a little red wagon on Sunday. 

Contact reporter Kara Berg at 517-377-1113 or kberg@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @karaberg95.