The wife of a Pennsylvania father who threw his two young children off a parking garage before killing himself has seemingly defended him in a social media post, saying that he was a “wonderful dad” who had become depressed after losing his job three months ago, according to a now-deleted social media post.
She also tragically revealed that he had agreed to seek help and that his first mental health appointment was scheduled for one day after the apparent double murder-suicide.
Patrick Lynch, 42; his son James, 8, and daughter Caroline, 6, were found dead near the foot of a five-story parking garage in the affluent Pittsburgh suburb of Mt. Lebanon at around 4:15 p.m. Tuesday, in what officials have since described as “not an accident.”
Anna Lynch blamed her Ivy League-educated husband’s spiraling mental state for his unthinkable actions, according to a screenshot of a since-deleted Facebook post published by the Daily Voice.
“My husband made the irreversible decision to kill our two children and himself this evening.
“He was laid off in August and shortly after became depressed,” the grieving mom wrote — adding that, shortly before the harrowing events, things had seemingly begun looking up.
“I suggested he to go to a therapist [sic], which he agreed to go to and had an appointment booked for 11/4. One day too late.
“I never thought this is how our story would end,” the heart-wrenching post read.
Still, Anna Lynch remembered her husband as “a wonderful dad,” as well as her son’s passion for skiing and daughter’s love of Skittles and slime.
It also described the slain youngsters as “best friends forever.”
“Rest in peace, my angels,” Anna Lynch wrote, and encouraged her followers to “check in on your loved ones.”
Lynch was a data scientist with a top-flight education — an undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College and a master’s from Carnegie Mellon.
According to his LinkedIn, he worked for Slice — the New Jersey-based restaurant point of sale system — for four years, until August.
The family lived in a $900,000, 4,200-square-foot home in the Mt. Lebanon section of Pittsburgh.
Little James and Caroline – who were declared dead at the scene about 20 minutes later – succumbed to multiple blunt force injuries, the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office said Wednesday, as their deaths were ruled homicides.
The dad’s cause and time of death has not been released publicly.
The Allegheny County Police Department, which has not publicly identified a motive for the grisly incident, declined to comment on the claims about Patrick Lynch’s mental health when reached by The Post.
Caroline Lynch had been battling a rare genetic disorder, Williams syndrome – which impacts growth, cognition, and the cardiovascular system – as well as heart and lung disease, since shortly after her birth, according to a 2025 interview with her mother in Mt. Lebanon Magazine.
Anna Lynch was fueled by her daughter’s health struggles to co-found the Inclusion Collective, a non-profit dedicated to increasing disability awareness and inclusion and empowering parents as advocates, according to the clip and a webpage for the organization.
As of Thursday morning, an online fundraiser created to help the devastated mother buried her family members had raised more than $170,000 of its $200,000 goal.
“No mother should ever have to experience this kind of pain. Especially Anna, who devoted her life to her family and to the community. To know her is to love her,” reads a bio on the GoFundMe page.
“Nothing I write here will bring her babies back and give her any sense of justice or peace. If we, her family and friends, can ease the financial burden of having to bury her children and her husband, it would be a relief,” it continues.
The Post has reached out to Anna Lynch.
