WESTBROOK, Maine — It's been more than three months since a shooting in a Westbrook parking lot left two children without their parents.
Marcel Lagrange Jr., 24, allegedly shot and killed 37-year-old Brittney Cockrell and 41-year-old Michael Hayter while they were sitting in their car in Westbrook on June 19.
"We're wrecked," Jeff McKinney, Cockrell's father, said. "You sleep sometimes. You wake up most of the time after a couple of hours. It's as bad as you can imagine."
Cockrell and Hayter's children Mason, 11, and Mattie Belle, 7, watched from the backseat of the car as Lagrange allegedly shot and killed their parents. The family moved to Maine from the Houston area six months prior, relocating for Hayter's job.
The two children are now living with their grandparents, Jeff and Brenda McKinney, near Houston. The two children are in counseling and going to school, trying to make life as normal as possible, McKinney said.
"I'd be lying if I didn't tell you sometimes we're answering some pretty awkward questions. We're getting through them," he said. "They're stronger than we are."
Lagrange Jr. is accused of six counts, including two murder charges. Lagrange Jr. pleaded not guilty, claiming insanity, at his first court appearance last month.
McKinney said over the few times McKinney has been to Westbrook since the murders, people have told him, "That sort of thing doesn't happen around here." He said when he hears that, it's a tough pill to swallow because it happened to his family.
The family has set up a GoFundMe page for Mason and Mattie Belle Hayter.
Cockrell had another daughter, 18, who was not with them at the time of the shooting. McKinney said she lives down the road from him and his wife.