In a quiet Northampton, Pennsylvania neighborhood, the life of 42-year-old Kristin D. Stump Eberhardt was tragically cut short on Tuesday, January 2, 2018. A senior regulatory analyst for a New Jersey life sciences company, she was a graduate of Toms River High School East and held a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice from Stockton University. She had moved to Northampton eight years prior and was a member of the Queenship of Mary Church. Those who knew her described her as a dedicated and wonderful young woman.
The events of that day unfolded at her home on West 27th Street, where she resided with her husband, Matthew Eberhardt, and their two young children. Authorities responded to a call regarding a domestic dispute and gunfire. Upon their arrival, they discovered that Matthew Eberhardt had shot his wife multiple times on the doorstep of their home before taking his own life with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The incident occurred just three days after the couple had celebrated their daughter's fifth birthday.
The Northampton County coroner confirmed that Kristin Eberhardt's death was a homicide, and her husband's was a suicide. The motive for the murder-suicide was not immediately clear to investigators. The couple's two children, a daughter and a toddler son, were placed in the care of relatives. Kristin was remembered as a loving mother who would often bring her children to her workplace.
Kristin was survived by her two children, Hannah Madison and Braden Matthew Eberhardt, as well as her parents, siblings, and other relatives. Her colleagues at Porzio Life Sciences, LLC, mourned her loss, with the firm's managing partner expressing heartbreak for her family, particularly her children. The community was left in shock by the sudden and violent end to a life that had been described as quiet and nice by neighbors.
