3 siblings found dead in Stafford home

The bodies were found in a home on Tuesday in the 13300 block of Venice Circle. The bodies were found in a home on Tuesday in the 13300 block of Venice Circle. Photo: Mike Glenn, Chronicle Photo: Mike Glenn, Chronicle Image 1 of / 6 Caption Close 3 siblings found dead in Stafford home 1 / 6 Back to Gallery

Police are investigating an apparent murder-suicide in connection with the shooting deaths of three siblings: two brothers and their teenage sister, whose bodies were found on Tuesday inside a Stafford home.

Stafford police said they received a 911 call about 2 p.m. from a frantic mother screaming that "her baby was dead."

The woman told arriving Stafford officers that she found two of her children in the home in the 13300 block of Venice Circle.

When officers went inside, however, they found three of the woman's children dead.

Police identified them as Faheem Mughal, 23; Fahad Mughal, 18; and Rebecca Mughal, who just turned 15. A fourth sibling, a woman in her mid-20s, was attending classes at Houston Community College at the time of the slayings, police said.

"It is apparently a murder-suicide type of dispute," said Lt. James Leedom of the Stafford Police Department.

Officers said they removed multiple rifles and pistols from the home. They won't know which was used in the killings until ballistics tests are completed.

"It's an active investigation and they are processing the scene," Leedom said.

Police said they didn't yet know what might have sparked the violence or which sibling pulled the trigger. There was some disarray inside the house but it wasn't clear whether that happened during the slayings, police said. Stafford police added there were no signs of forced entry into the house. The three bodies were all found in separate rooms.

Authorities said they haven't yet interviewed the mother who found her children dead or the father who came home later.

"They're too distraught right now. It's a sad day," Leedom said.

The Mughal family lived in a modest brick home in a normally quiet, tree-lined street in Stafford. A red sport utility vehicle was parked under an awning in the driveway. Neighbors said Faheem made his living working on cars at home.

"He'd buy them, fix them up then sell them," said Larry Rangel, who lives next door.

Rangel said Fahad had recently been helping his older brother with his shade tree auto shop. "He was a great guy. I saw him every day," Rangel said of Faheem, who went by Jacob to his friends.

Rangel said the family wasn't standoffish but was generally quiet and kept to themselves. He said the Mughal family had been living there since he moved in next door about two years ago. "There was never any arguing. There was never any yelling - nothing," Rangel said.

He watched as detectives and crime scene technicians went back and forth into his neighbors' home.

"This is surreal. I'll be honest with you," Rangel said.

Neighbors said the Mughal children were graduates of or attending Stafford High School.

Juan Lopez said he once had a class with Rebecca Mughal, and recalled her saying she wanted to work in the medical field.

"She was smart and a really cool person," Lopez said.

Lauren Garza stood behind a line of crime scene tape stretched across the street at the home where the three siblings had been found dead.

"I was scared. It's shocking that this happened," Garza said. "You don't wake up expecting this to happen to someone you know."

Garza said she knew Fahad Mughal better than his siblings because they attended Stafford High together. She said he dropped out before graduating.

"If someone made him mad, it bothered him. He had a temper," Garza said.

By early evening, a small bouquet of flowers had been placed outside the suburban home where the Mughal siblings were found shot to death.