Report: Phoenix mother shot teen son in his sleep before turning gun on herself

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) - A medical examiner report obtained by Arizona’s Family sheds new light on how a Phoenix woman shot and killed her teenage son in his sleep before turning the gun on herself late last year.

According to the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office, 17-year-old Gunther Saline was found shot in the head in his bedroom while his CPAP machine was still running on Dec. 14. Authorities say that he was last seen alive a week before officers arrived at the home and believe he had been dead for several days. The autopsy report details that Saline appeared to be otherwise in good health, and that toxicology results came back negative for alcohol or any drug use.

Arizona’s Family previously reported that his mother, identified as 37-year-old Christina Marie Watson, was the alleged shooter. Officers say they were called out to an apartment near 23rd Avenue and Rose Garden Lane in the late-night hours for a welfare check. At the scene, police found Watson seriously injured from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. She later died at a nearby hospital.

Details surrounding a possible motive or what led up to the shooting have not been made public.