Cops: She Let Him Stay. Then He Killed Her and Her Kids

Cohen Hancz-Barron, suspect in Fort Wayne quadruple murders, arrested
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 4, 2021 8:40 AM CDT
Cops: She Let Him Stay. Then He Killed Her and Her Kids
This undated photo shows Cohen Hancz-Barron.   (Fort Wayne Police Department via AP)

A 21-year-old Indiana man is now in custody after police say he brutally murdered a woman and three children, who were found dead in their home on Wednesday. Officers arriving at the Fort Wayne home shortly before 11am were met by a man and woman yelling, "He killed them, they're dead," reports WANE. They then found the bodies of three children facedown on a bed. Their mother, who was also deceased, was kneeling beside the bed. All four had "significant injuries to their necks," according to a probable cause affidavit. Autopsies showed the children—5-year-old Carter Mathew Zent, 3-year-old Ashton Duwayne Zent, and 2-year-old Aubree Christine Zent—died of multiple stab wounds, while their mother—Sarah Nicole Zent, 26—died of multiple stab wounds and strangulation. Cohen Hancz-Barron allegedly murdered the group before dawn.

Zent had allowed Hancz-Barron, a former boyfriend, to stay with her, but was planning to have him leave, a family rep tells WPTA. A warrant for his arrest was issued in April after he escaped a rehab center where he was to serve the remainder of a six-year sentence for robbery, per the Lafayette Journal & Courier. Surveillance video shows lights on in Zent's home beginning after 4am, then a pickup truck driving away. The truck's owner said Sarah Zent had permission to use it but Hancz-Barron did not; he allegedly drove it to his mother's house. His mother told police that her son was "talking and acting crazy" when he showed up around 6:15am, claiming he'd been shot and asking for money and duct tape, per WANE. He was arrested around 5:15pm at a Lafayette apartment, where he was found with scratches and a blood-stained knife, police say. He's being held without bail. (More murder stories.)

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