GALAX (WSLS 10) - The Medical Examiner in Roanoke has ruled the deaths of a 28-year-old Galax woman and her 21-month-old daughter as murders. The exact cause of death for both victims is pending additional analysis.
According to the Galax Police Chief, officers are questioning a person of interest. That person's name will not be released at this time, but police say it's not the child's father.
According to a spokesperson for the Galax Police Department, officers were called to a home on Thursday at 11:58 a.m. after receiving information that a dead person had been observed in the home.
Officers found the body of Alyssa Ann Kenny, 28, of Galax and the body of her infant daughter Anastasia Leighann Alley, 21 months.
We were able to speak with family, who say they're looking for answers.
"When we pulled up to her house around 12:30p.m., there was crime scene tape around her entire house and there was many police cars," commented Kenny's mother Stacy Ludy.
It was only the day before Ludy said she saw her daughter, Kenny and her 21-month-old granddaughter. A day later, it's a raw realization for the entire family.
"It's mind numbing and surreal," Ludy told us. "It's not real. And then, I asked him where you know where's Ana, the baby... and he had to tell me Ana was also murdered."
"It has been emotional for the people from my agency that responded," said Galax Police Chief Rick Clark. "They're fathers, they're mothers, they're grandparents and there's no explanation about why a child should lose her life in this manner."
Clark said the environment of Kenny's home and the physical condition in which they found the mother and child led investigators to believe this was an attempted burglary.
Ludy and family add Kenny was a joy. She graduated from Norristown High School as the cheer-leading captain and with honors. Kenny would call Ludy once a day and share stories every time Anastasia learned a new word.
"I would not wish that on anybody," said Ludy. "If anybody knows anything, they need to come forward to the Galax Police Department."
Investigators continue to interview witnesses and gather evidence for the case. A team of officers and deputies from the Carroll and Grayson counties have spent much of Friday conducting grid searches in the area around the crime scene.