Story highlights Mark Short killed his wife and three children, DA says

One of his children, Willow Short, survived a heart transplant when she was 6 days old

(CNN) Megan Short was all set to leave her husband and move with her three children into a new home on August 6.

She had leased a residence in Yardley, Pennsylvania, and relatives were waiting there for her that day. All that remained to be done was for her estranged husband, Mark Short, to rent a moving van and help her move belongings from their Sinking Spring home.

But Megan Short and her children never made it there.

Mark Short killed his 33-year-old wife and the couple's three children, 8-year-old Liana, 5-year-old Mark Jr., and 2-year-old Willow, before turning the gun on himself, Berks County District Attorney John Adams said at a news conference Monday. Willow survived a heart transplant at 6 days old, and her story made national headlines.

The couple had "domestic and marital problems," some of which led to police calls, Adams said. But none of them resulted in charges or arrests, and Megan Short declined to obtain protective order against her husband, Adams said.

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