A day after a town of Russia teen and his father were found dead inside their home, officials Friday ruled the incident to be a murder-suicide.

A day after a town of Russia teen and his father were found dead inside their home, officials Friday ruled the incident to be a murder-suicide.

The bodies of 13-year-old Parker Huckabone and 40-year-old James Huckabone were discovered after a Thursday morning fire at their Military Road residence. But Herkimer County Coroner Vincent Enea said an autopsy performed in Albany determined each died as a result of a gunshot wound to the head.

Parker Huckabone's death was ruled a homicide, Enea said, while James Huckabone's injury appears to have been self-inflicted.

State police said evidence suggests that Parker Huckabone was killed while he slept and that his father's death was a suicide.

State fire investigators also have completed their on-scene investigation and determined that the fire was intentionally set, officials said.



Herkimer County District Attorney Jeffrey Carpenter said state police will be the ones releasing any additional information at this point in the investigation.

On Friday, some Poland Central School District students, teachers and staff wore red clothes or red ribbons to honor the 13-year-old victim. Parker Huckabone was an eighth-grader in the district. Additionally, students were writing messages in red marker on a large banner on the floor of the district's Walker Auditorium.

Parker Huckabone's death and the fire at his residence came less than a week after Chenango County parents Ernest Franklin II and Heather Franklin were indicted on second-degree murder and arson charges in the death of their 16-year-old adopted son Jeffrey Franklin, who was disabled, according to media reports.

Jeffrey Franklin's body was found in the remains of his family's Guilford home March 1 following an early-morning blaze that appeared to have started in their wood stove. That case is ongoing.