Grieving dad begs God to forgive wife after she killed her four children before turning the gun on herself

The husband of a woman who shot her four children dead before turning the gun on herself has spoken of his anger - and how he begged God to forgive his wife as she lay dying in hospital.

Cliff Harshman was at the bedside of Tranvelle Harshman when she passed away earlier this month, just 12 hours after she killed her four children at their home in Byron, Wyoming, USA.

Mr Harshman told the Cowboy State Daily he was by his wife's side when she took her final breath, adding: "I sat and wept. And I cried to God: ‘Please forgive her. Help me forgive her,’. I lost my best friend. My kids. Everything."

The grieving husband and father previously said his wife, 32, had been receiving treatment for postpartum depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at the time of the tragedy and that she was "not a monster", despite what happened. He said after being told she was not going to make it, he took her hand as she died.

In the aftermath of the horrific incident, on February 10, the Big Horn County Sheriff’s Office said Mrs Harshman called emergency services at around 1.30pm to report gunshots at her home. She told police her four daughters, aged between two and nine, had been shot and she planned to "do the same" to herself.

When officers arrived, they found two of the girls, later identified as Brooke, two, and nine-year-old Brailey, dead. The other two girls - Jordan, two, and seven-year-old Olivia - were alive but critically injured.

Sadly, Jordan died at the scene soon after, while Olivia was taken to the hospital but passed away on February 15 with her biological father, Quinn Blackmer, by her side.

Mr Harshman, who was the biological father of the two younger girls, said he and Tranyelle knew each other when they were students at Powell High School, but only began dating when she was going through a divorce 2020, and they married that July.

His wife suffered a miscarriage in 2021, he said, and they welcomed their first child, Brooke, a year later, although Tranyelle began struggling with postpartum depression after the birth.

Brooke also had severe food allergies and wouldn't nurse, which he said seemed to compound his wife's depression.

Within weeks, Tranyelle was pregnant again with the couple's younger daughter, Jordan. Her postpartum depression continued, said her husband, while she also began feeling overstimulated and claustrophobic while nursing baby Jordan, as well as struggling with PTSD caused by a past event in her life. Financial hardship and a custody battle with Blackmer added to her stress, he said.

Mr Harshman was away for work when the tragedy unfolded, and said he was dealing with guilt and anger over the incident. He previously told KTVQ the incident was "something beyond what I can comprehend".

"I'm so angry," he added. "I don't even know how to explain this to you. I'm so angry with her for the decision that was made."

As for his guilt at leaving for work, he said the couple's relationship was tense, and that he lives "with an immense amount of guilt for things that weren’t said the night before". "I could have told her how much I loved her, could have told her how much she meant to me."

He added: "What I wouldn’t have given to walk into that house and see them. I’d give away everything that I have — and I have so much now — just to have it back to normal."

Friend Brodie Bosick has set up a fundraiser to help Mr Harshman in “his darkest hour” which has so far raised more than $140,000 via the gofundme page.

*Anyone affected by the issues raised in this story can contact Samaritans at any time on 116 123 or by emailing [email protected].