A 27-year-old woman from Towanda, Pennsylvania, faces two counts of criminal homicide after her husband and 3-year-old son were found stabbed to death in a guest room at a resort in the Poconos on Monday, according to police and court records. Metallica Rose Harrison is being held in jail with bond denied, and a preliminary hearing is set for Oct. 21.
Police said officers were sent to the resort in Pocono Township at about 3:13 p.m. ET on Monday after a woman in a guest room asked a dispatcher for help to die by suicide. Court papers prepared by a detective named Earl Ackerman say the caller told police her husband and son were already gone. Officers found the husband, Charles Harrison, and the child dead on mattresses on the floor of the room, the complaint said.
The complaint states that Charles Harrison had been stabbed several times in the chest and that the child had a single stab wound in the same area. Investigators recovered a large kitchen knife from the bathroom floor and a smaller knife from the bathroom sink, the documents said. The resort told reporters that neither knife belonged to the lodge.
Court records describe the woman’s statements
Harrison told emergency responders she had worked hard to be a good mother and wife, according to the affidavit of probable cause. She was quoted as saying, “It wasn’t supposed to end like this.” Harrison was taken to a hospital with self-inflicted injuries and was accompanied by police, court documents show. She later told investigators she was suicidal and declined to answer more questions, the affidavit said.
Fox News reported that Charles Harrison was 36. Law&Crime reported that his age was unclear in the court filings. The court documents identify the child only by initials. Social media accounts linked to the family showed the couple and their son at vacation spots in the months before the deaths, the New York Post reported.
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Family and resort response
The family checked into the resort on Sept. 21 and had extended its stay, with checkout planned for Tuesday, according to Law&Crime. Fox News reported that a Great Wolf Lodge spokesperson said multi-week stays are uncommon but not completely unusual at the company’s resorts. The company said it was cooperating fully with local police and described the case as an isolated family incident.
Police said the case was an isolated domestic tragedy and that there was no threat to the community. A woman who said she was Charles Harrison’s sister, Melissa Rivera, wrote on social media that the family was heartbroken. Rivera also set up an online fundraiser for funeral expenses, Fox News reported.
What happens next
Harrison remains in custody, and she is scheduled to appear at a preliminary hearing on Oct. 21. It was not immediately clear on Wednesday whether she had hired or been appointed an attorney. Messages left for the suspect and the victim’s relatives had not been returned, NBC News reported. Additional charges have not been announced, and the investigation is continuing.
