On a summer day in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, the life of a 44-year-old White/Caucasian woman named Tanya D. Gagnon came to a tragic end. On Wednesday, June 17, 2020, police were called to perform a wellness check at an apartment on Social Street. Inside, they made a grim discovery. Gagnon and a man named Charles Johnson, 43, were found deceased in separate rooms, each having sustained a single gunshot wound.
The investigation that followed painted a sorrowful picture of the events that
had transpired. Authorities quickly determined the incident to be a murder-suicide. Evidence found within the apartment led investigators to believe that Johnson had shot and killed Gagnon before turning the gun on himself. Tragically, a cat was also found shot to death in the apartment, while a dog was discovered unharmed.
Tanya had been in a relationship with Charles Johnson for about three years, and the two had been living together in the Social Street apartment since March of that year. A review of police records indicated no prior history of domestic violence calls between the couple, leaving a community to grapple with the sudden and shocking loss. Family and friends remembered Tanya as a caring and loving person who had dedicated 27 years to her work as a case worker, helping others. In the wake of her death, those who knew her gathered for vigils, honoring the memory of a woman described as having a big heart and a love for laughter.
