Watch CBS News

Arrest Affidavit Reveals Details Of Suicide Note, Mother Faces Murder Charges

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. (CBS4)- The mother of a young boy shot and killed in his home near Steamboat Springs has been arrested.

Lisa Marie Lesyshen is in police custody at a hospital in Denver. She has been arrested for suspicion of first-degree murder, child abuse and domestic violence charges. Police said she confessed from her hospital bed to shooting her son and then turning the gun on herself.

Lesyshen, 45, and her husband, Michael Kirlan, were going through a separation when she allegedly shot and killed their son, Asher, 9. The couple was separated but living in the same home in different rooms.

During a search of the home authorities said they found a suicide note that read, "Remember you are responsible for what has happened here and you are the person that caused it."

That note was signed "Lisa & Asher."

The arrest affidavit also reveals some disturbing details about how Asher was killed and the crime scene.

Asher was shot five times; he was found with three gunshot wounds to the chest, one to the head and another to his thigh.

According to police Asher's father called police around 3 a.m. Wednesday and said his son had been shot but was breathing. Kirlan, 46, said his wife was upstairs with a gun, telling him to come and kill her. Kirlan told 911 operators he did not feel safe.

"He was asleep at the time, he heard a loud noise, and then later, right after he woke up, he heard what he thought were gunshots," Routt County Sheriff Garrett Wiggins said.

According to the affidavit, Kirlan said he heard more shots coming from his wife's bedroom and yelled, "Why would you do something like this?" Then she responded "To hurt you" and that she was "telling him to come and kill her."

Lesyshen was found unconscious in the master bedroom with a gunshot wound. Investigators later recovered three shell casings and a small revolver from where Lesyshen had been found.

Lesyshen will remain in police custody until she is well enough to be transported to the Routt County Jail.

The district attorney there hopes for a first court appearance within the week but that depends on her recovery from the self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

Asher was a third-grader at Soda Creek Elementary School in Steamboat Springs. Students were simply told Asher had died at home.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: Arrest Warrant for Lisa Lesyshen

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.