Lisa Cochran described as ‘unstable’ by ex-husband’s family
Authorities believe Lisa Cochran, 32, shot each of her daughters — Alyssa Cochran, 11, Autumn Cochran, 10, and Faith Ehlen, 22 months — in the head. They were found in Cochran’s vehicle outside her ex-boyfriend’s home south of De Soto.
She then shot and killed herself near the steps to the home.
Their bodies were found at 12:30 a.m. Thursday after Cochran’s estranged boyfriend, Christopher Ehlen, arrived home. Ehlen is Faith’s father. Cochran’s ex-husband, Vincent Cochran, is the father of the two older girls.
“We knew she was unstable,” said Tammy Martin, Vincent Cochran’s aunt. “She threatened suicide numerous times.”
Martin, of Arnold, said judges had ignored his pleas to get the children away from her nephew’s ex-wife. She said that her nephew suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder from serving in Iraq and that his ex-wife used that to convince a judge that he should get only supervised visits.
Efforts to reach Lisa Cochran’s family were not successful Thursday.
“He loved his little girls,” Martin said through tears. “And they loved him.”
Alyssa was a sixth-grader at Antonia Middle School and Autumn was a fifth-grader at Antonia Elementary School, said Todd Scott, assistant superintendent of the Fox School District.
Scott said the district’s crisis team visited the schools Thursday to offer grief counseling to students and will continue to offer counseling as needed.
“We’re deeply saddened by this incident, and we want to try to help our students deal with the grief,” Scott said.
The Cochrans married on Feb. 14, 2001. Alyssa was 4 months old and Autumn was born eight months later. The couple separated in 2008; the divorce was final in 2009.
Lisa Cochran refused to let Alyssa and Autumn see their father, he claimed in divorce papers. Vincent Cochran also accused her of taking ‘several different paramours” while he was in Iraq.
They almost divorced in 2004 but reconciled before it was final, according to court documents.
In two requests for orders of protection against her ex-husband, Cochran accused him of threatening to kill her, drinking Jack Daniels while driving their daughters around and abusing drugs. Both orders were granted.
Vincent Cochran accused his ex-wife of not letting him see his girls.
She got the order of protection against Ehlen on Aug. 13. “He has mental breakdowns every couple months and screams at me, calling me names …”,” she wrote. “Every time he loses his temper it gets worse.”
[…] members of Cochran’s ex-husband, Vincent Cochran, said she had a history of mental instability and previously had threatened […]