The baby son of the Ohio couple shot dead inside their home was likely stranded in his crib and awake for hours following the grisly double-slay, a loved one reportedly said.
Spencer and Monique Tepe’s brother-in-law told People on Wednesday that 17-month-old Beckham was likely crying in his room before first responders finally reached the Columbus home on Dec. 30.
“[He] was in the crib right, and was unable to get out of the crib on his own and also it was at a time he would’ve been well awake by this time,” said Rob Misleh.
Misleh added the baby boy likely did not eat for hours while his parents laid dead.
The Tepes were allegedly killed by Monique’s ex-husband, Illinois surgeon Michael McKee, who authorities said snuck into the home in the middle of the night and shot the couple in their bedroom with a silencer.
The double-slay discovery was made around 10 a.m. after Spencer, a dentist, uncharacteristically did not show up to work the next day. Callers dialing 911 outside of the house reported seeing a body inside and hearing a child wailing.
Mckee, 39, and Monique, 39, were married for two years before divorcing in 2017.
Monique later married Spencer, 37, in 2020.
Misleh, who is married to Spencer’s sister, told the outlet that the 1-year-old and his now-4-year-old sibling have different rooms and likely didn’t witness their parents’ violent end.
“From the time frame that we know, 2 a.m. to 5 a.m., [when the murders took place], the kids would’ve been in their beds so we assume that they did not see anything,” he said.
McKee is facing murder charges after he was captured at an Illinois Chick-fil-A nearly two weeks after the shooting.
He was hauled back to Ohio and is currently in custody.
The brother-in-law said neither child understands why their parents are gone, and feared it’ll take “years and years of processing.””I really don’t think that a 4-year-old can grasp [what] is hard for us to even grasp,” he said.