Bellailani “Bella” Renee Arnau, a 10-year-old Hispanic/Latina female, died on June 6, 2017, in Strasburg Township, Pennsylvania, in what authorities determined was a double murder-suicide carried out inside her family's Village Road home. Bella was found dead alongside her 4-year-old brother, Noah Walter Arnau, and their mother, 40-year-old Carola Arnau, after emergency crews were called to the property in the early morning hours for a house fire.
The call came around 3:00 to 3:20 a.m., when responders arrived to find flames at the home and also at a detached garage. After the fire was put out, authorities discovered Carola and the two children in a bedroom. Investigators said the children appeared to have been shot while they were asleep. The family dog was also found shot to death.
Lancaster County officials later said Carola Arnau was the person responsible. A firearm believed to have been used in the shootings was found near her body, and investigators reported finding soot from the discharge of a firearm on her hand. The coroner ruled Bella's and Noah's deaths homicides and Carola's death a suicide. Reports stated Bella was shot multiple times in the head, Noah was shot multiple times in the body, and Carola died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Authorities said Carola had purchased the gun the day before the killings. Investigators also said she had been receiving mental-health treatment before the incident. Her husband, Miguel Arnau, Bella and Noah's father, was reportedly at work when the shootings and fires occurred, and officials stated there was nothing indicating he was involved. At the time, the family was described in reports as being in the midst of a difficult divorce.
Because Carola Arnau died at the scene, there were no arrests, criminal charges, trial, or conviction. The case was closed publicly as a murder-suicide, with Carola identified as the sole suspect in the deaths of Bella, Noah, and the family dog, as well as the apparent setting of the fires at the property.
