On February 18, 2019, the community of Cedar Springs, Michigan, was shaken by the tragic death of six-year-old Cassidy Rodery, a White female who was a first-grade student at MacNaughton Elementary. The events leading to her untimely passing began earlier that day when her mother, Aubrianne Moore, arrived at the school around noon. Moore provided school officials with a falsified doctor's note to secure the early release of Cassidy and her eight-year-old sister, Kyrie Rodery.
After leaving the school, the group, which also included Moore’s youngest daughter, two-year-old Alaina Rau, stopped for lunch before driving to a secluded property on 19 Mile Road in Solon Township.
Upon arriving at the property, which belonged to the girls' great-grandparents, Moore led her three daughters to a wooded area behind the home. Investigators determined that Moore used a bolt-action hunting-style rifle, which legally belonged to her boyfriend, to shoot and kill all three children. Following the shootings, she placed the girls' bodies into her vehicle and drove to her boyfriend's residence nearby. It was at this second location, outside the car, that Moore turned the weapon on herself, ending her own life.
The bodies were discovered later that afternoon, prompting an immediate investigation by the Kent County Sheriff’s Office. Authorities quickly pieced together the timeline, confirming that the mother was the sole perpetrator in what was ruled a triple murder-suicide. Forensic evidence and ballistics matched the rifle found at the scene to the wounds sustained by the victims. Because the suspect, Aubrianne Moore, died by suicide at the scene, there were no arrests, trials, or convictions in connection with the case.
Subsequent inquiries into Moore’s background revealed a history of severe mental health struggles. Court records and social worker reports indicated that she had been suffering from schizophrenia, paranoia, and hallucinations. In the months prior to the killings, there had been petitions for her hospitalization, with warnings that she posed a danger to herself and others. Moore had reportedly expressed delusions that her children were in danger and that she needed to "protect" them, a twisted logic that investigators believe contributed to her decision to take their lives. The case was closed following the medical examiner's ruling of homicide for the three girls and suicide for the mother.
