The daughter of New York Jets wide receiver legend Al Toon has died after she succumbed to injuries sustained in an apparent murder-suicide at her Scottsdale, Arizona, home.
Molly Elizabeth Lillard, the 28-year-old daughter of Toon, and a former star volleyball player at the University of Michigan, was shot to death on Sunday and found outside of her home by authorities at around 5 p.m. following reports of a shooting.
Authorities identified Lillard as the victim on Monday afternoon. Her husband was identified as 36-year-old Royce Dale Lillard III, The Arizona Republic reported. The Scottsdale Police Department said evidence suggests the shooting was a murder-suicide.
“At this point in the investigation, all indications are that this was a murder-suicide,” the spokesperson said.
Lillard was transferred to a hospital, where she later died.
Lillard III, the suspected shooter, barricaded himself inside the home and was then found dead after suffering a self-inflicted gunshot wound. SWAT officials entered the home at 10:45 p.m. after trying to make contact with Lillard III and discovered that he was dead.
The couple’s 8 month-old child was in the home at the time but was not injured. The couple had been married for two years.
The Michigan Wolverines volleyball team responded to Lillard’s death in a statement saying, “We are extremely heartbroken and at a loss for words at this moment. The Michigan Volleyball family is sending all of our love to Molly Toon and her family. She was an amazing friend, daughter, teammate and mother. Molly will be greatly missed.”
Lillard’s athleticism was reflective of that of her father. Al Toon was drafted 10th overall by the New York Jets and earned first-team All-Pro distinction in 1986 along with three Pro Bowl selections over eight years. His decorated career with the Jets lasted from 1985 to 1992.
Lillard also played volleyball at Middleton High School in Wisconsin before graduating in 2010. Last summer a panel voted her the twelfth-greatest female athlete of the 21st century of Middleton High School athletes.
Franco Marcos, Lillard’s volleyball coach at Middleton, called her death a “tragic loss.” He told the Wisconsin State Journal, “I coached her prior to high school in a club season and then four years in high school. … Knowing the family and Al, it’s really hard to hear a story like that. … It’s sad. I really don’t know what to say. It’s such a tragic loss, and the way it happened.”
Police have not released further information about what led up to the shooting. The couple’s child is in the care of family.
