On June 30, 2025, Patricia McCarty, 88, a female of White/Caucasian ethnicity from Bradley, Illinois, was killed inside her home in what police determined to be a double murder-suicide. Officers were dispatched just before 6 a.m. to a residence in the 200 block of South Prairie Avenue after a 911 call; inside, they found Patricia McCarty, 88, and her husband, Wayne McCarty, 89, fatally wounded. All were pronounced dead at the scene.
Authorities said autopsies determined that Patricia McCarty, 88, died of gunshot wounds. Investigators indicated that the violence occurred within the home and that the scene showed no sign of an outside intruder. Police described the event as an isolated incident, providing reassurance that there was no ongoing threat to the community.
Bradley Police later identified the shooter as the couple’s son, Michael McCarty, 61, who, after killing Patricia McCarty, 88, and Wayne McCarty, 89, died by suicide. Items recovered at the scene led Chief Don Barber to say the act appeared premeditated and that the son seemed distraught prior to the killings.
The names of Patricia McCarty, 88, Wayne McCarty, 89, and Michael McCarty, 61, were released by police on July 1, 2025, following the initial investigation. In the days that followed, the family announced joint services, with visitation and a Mass of Christian Burial held in Bradley in mid-July, as reflected in funeral home and church notices.
As the individual responsible died at the scene, no arrests were made in the killing of Patricia McCarty, 88. Police categorized the case as a murder-suicide within a single household, and no additional suspects were sought. Memorial listings and incident records corroborate the date, location, and circumstances of Patricia McCarty’s, 88, death in Bradley.
