The deaths of two South Riding teenagers in January has been ruled a double suicide, the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office announced March 10.
Michaela "Kaela" Wegner, 15, and Harold Anthony "Tony" Holt, 19, died of self-inflicted gunshot wounds to the head, according to an autopsy report by the Medical Examiners Office in Fairfax. The office declined to release any further information on the two deaths.
The two were found dying from their wounds on Jan. 3 on the back porch of Wegner's home on Iverson Drive in South Riding. A gun on the scene was registered to Holt's father.
Sheriff's Office deputies also found two notes on the scene. The two were in love, they wrote, and wanted to be together despite Wegner's parents' disapproval.
THE TWO deaths sent a shock wave through the insular community of South Riding. Neighbors gathered at a candlelight vigil two days later and bouquets lined the curb outside the house where the two were found.
It was also the second death by shooting of a Broad Run student in a year. In March 2004, freshman Nick Shomaker died after being shot by Matthew Lathram, who later received a 25-year sentence for involuntary manslaughter.
Wegner was a popular Broad Run sophomore at the time of her death.
"She really lit up a light in the classroom," said biology teacher Linda Hendrickson. "We definitely didn't see any signs that would be a red flag ... the students in my class were extremely surprised."
Hendrickson said that students in her honors biology class sometimes still mention Wegner in class discussion.
Tony Holt was a 2004 Broad Run graduate who planned to attend ITT Technical Institute.
Friends remembered him as an athletic, brotherly figure.
“Me and my brother used to call him Superman because we thought he was invincible," one friend remembered at the candlelight vigil.
Law enforcement officers are traditionally tight-lipped about suicides, especially youth suicides. In this case, however, the Sheriff's Office released details of the notes found at the scene.
"We usually don't release anything," said Sheriff's Office spokesman Kraig Troxell. "We didn't want the misconstruing that there was a gunman wandering around."