Shirley P. Westheafer, an 81-year-old female, died on Thursday, April 24, 2014, at the Warrington Township, Pennsylvania, home where she had been living with her son and daughter-in-law. She had been born on March 23, 1933, in Steelton, Pennsylvania, to Charles M. Young and Ellen J. Freeland Young, and she was the widow of Charles R. Westheafer. Her obituary described her as someone who enjoyed her family and friends, and it listed surviving relatives including a son, Charles R. Cassel of Abilene, Texas, a daughter, Tami K. Alvarez of San Antonio, Texas, and four grandchildren.
The death was not initially a quiet family loss. Authorities in York County identified it as a murder-suicide inside a home on Rocky Wood Lane in Warrington Township, near Wellsville. Police and the coroner said Shirley’s son, Donald Cassel, shot her and then killed himself. The shootings were reported shortly before 2:30 p.m.; one account placed the incident at about 2:20 p.m. in a bedroom of the home. Cassel’s wife was also at the residence, heard the gunshots, and called 911. She was not injured.
York County Coroner Pam Gay said Shirley died from a single gunshot wound to the head. Donald Cassel also died from a single gunshot wound to the head. Shirley’s death was ruled a homicide, and Cassel’s death was ruled a suicide. Reports described the weapon as a shotgun. Authorities said no autopsies would be performed.
Investigators identified Donald Cassel, reported as 57 years old in several accounts, as the person responsible for Shirley’s death. One report gave his name as Donald Cassel Jr., and another used Don Cassell, but the central account remained the same: police said he shot his mother and then turned the gun on himself. At the time, officials said they did not have a clear motive. Pennsylvania State Trooper Rob Hicks said investigators intended to speak with Cassel’s wife and neighbors to understand what had happened inside the household.
Shirley had reportedly moved in with her son and daughter-in-law because she could no longer live alone due to health problems, including dementia. That detail gave the case a painful domestic backdrop: an elderly mother who had become dependent on family care, a household where all three adults were living together, and a sudden burst of violence that left two people dead before police could make an arrest.
Because Donald Cassel died at the scene by suicide, there were no reported arrests, criminal charges, trial proceedings, convictions, or sentencing. The case appears to have ended as a homicide-suicide investigation, with Shirley Westheafer identified as the homicide victim and her son Donald Cassel identified by authorities as the suspect who killed her before taking his own life.
