Miami Dade police are now investigating an incident in which a Jamaican soldier on vacation is believed to have killed his wife and one-year-old child before taking his own life yesterday afternoon.

According to reports published on the Miami Herald website, the couple, 27-year-old Shanna Edwards and Jermaine Williams, and their infant, Jenaya, were found dead in her home in the 16200 block of Southwest 304th Terrace, Homestead, Florida.

Early police investigations are said to have revealed that their sudden deaths appeared to be a murder-suicide. Neighbours said they heard no gunshots.

The reports claim that the husband and wife returned to each other's arms a few days ago, bonding over their daughter. The incident has left their relatives in shock. "There was no history of violence with this couple because her husband didn't even live here,'' Cordel Skyers, Edwards' brother, was quoted as saying in the article.

It was further stated that Edwards' co-workers at the East Ridge Retirement Village in South Miami-Dade were the first to notice something amiss. She was said to have been a hard worker who never skipped a day

Skyers' wife, Leonnie, who is said to have helped to gather a shocked and confused family, is also quoted in the article as saying, "This is the last thing I would have dreamed of. They seemed happy. I wouldn't say that if I didn't think it was true.''

The couple is said to have got married two years ago. Jermaine was described in the article by family members as a soft-spoken man with a calm demeanour who was serving as a soldier in the Jamaican army.

When THE STAR contacted the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) last night, a representative said that they were not aware of the incident.

Major Ricardo Blackwood of the civil/military cooperation branch of the JDF said, however, that an update would be provided today as a comment could not be provided just yet.