South Fayette grad killed in murder-suicide at Southpointe apartment
December Ersek said her second cousin, Michelle Krek, “literally just sparkled.”
“Everyone loved Michelle. If anybody could light up a room when she walked in, it was her,” said Ersek, 45, of Midway, remembering her cousin less than a day after her violent death. “I know a lot of good people, but she was one of those people who was just extraordinary.”
Cecil Township police Chief Shawn Bukovinsky said there may never be an answer to why Naader E. Rizk shot and killed Krek, his pregnant girlfriend, inside their Southpointe Town Center apartment before fatally shooting himself March 28. The unborn baby also died.
Michelle Krek and Naader Rizk are seen in this profile photo from Rizk’s Facebook profile.
The bodies of Rizk, 38, and Krek, 35, were found inside a second-floor apartment at 1400 Main St. about 10 p.m. Bukovinsky said a robot used by the Washington Regional SWAT team was sent into the apartment.
Krek, who’d graduated from South Fayette High School in 2001 and gone on to earn a master’s degree in information technology, and Rizk had been dating for about a year and she lived with him for much of that time. Official records still list her as having an address at her sister’s house in Bridgeville.
A ring of the doorbell at the Bridgeville house went unanswered the day after Krek’s death. The well-kept yard along the quiet suburban street was decorated with a colorful Easter display, and a basket full of toys for dogs sat on the front porch.
Bukovinsky said police were called by a neighbor on the second floor of the Southpointe apartment complex who heard shots fired about 7:15 p.m. Officers responded and saw bullet holes in the wall of the apartment across the hall from Rizk’s apartment and bullet holes in the door of his apartment.
“We tried to make contact with him,” Bukovinsky said. “We then notified the SWAT team and called the family. We found both of their vehicles in the garage, so we figured they were in there.”
Krek’s body was found just inside the door, while Rizk’s was nearby, Bukovinsky added. Krek was shot in the back and in the head; Rizk had a single gunshot wound to the head. A 9 mm handgun was found, and a bullet was recovered in the neighbor’s apartment.
Rizk and Krek were pronounced dead of gunshot wounds, Coroner Tim Warco said.
Krek was about seven months pregnant and was due in May.
People who live nearby were evacuated as a precaution, while others were told to stay inside their apartments.
Police from Canonsburg and North Strabane Township, plus Muse firefighters and the Washington County Department of Public Safety, helped at the scene.
“We have no idea what precipitated it,” Bukovinsky said. “There were no letters or notes.”
Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Police were called to 1400 Main in Southpointe Wednesday evening following reports of gunshots. Washington County Coroner Tim Warco confirmed that a man and woman were found dead in an apartment following a murder-suicide.
He said there was no history of domestic violence at the residence, nor was there a protection-from-abuse order in effect. The only time police were called to the apartment was when Rizk complained about a neighbor being noisy.
“We don’t know why it happened,” Bukovinsky said. “Obviously, there was some sort of confrontation. There was no argument or loud voices heard prior to the shooting.”
Rizk’s parents described the relationship as rocky but not violent.
“They broke up five, maybe six (times) just in that one year,” said Marsha Rizk, Naader’s mother. “They didn’t get time to know each other. … Getting pregnant that quickly … Really, you don’t know the person until you’re with them for a while.”
Still, they said their son – a talented IT professional who didn’t do drugs and stayed out of trouble – wanted things to work out. Abrahim Rizk, Naader’s father, was getting ready to close on a house for the couple.
“I don’t know what happened last night,” he said Thursday.
Marsha Rizk said “nothing sounded weird” when she spoke to her son about 6 p.m. that night.
Ersek wasn’t aware of any serious problems in the relationship between her cousin and Rizk.
“We were all so happy for her, because they seemed to be very happy,” said Ersek, who last saw them at Krek’s baby shower Sunday. “They were happy, like any normal couple having a baby. Nothing was out of the ordinary. Nothing was weird, nothing at all.”
Staff writer Harry Funk contributed to this report.