Two children were inside a house where a mum and her partner were found dead, relatives claim.
The bodies of Katie Higton, 27, and Steven Harnett, 25, were found by police on Harpe Inge in Dalton, Huddersfield, on Monday morning (May 16). West Yorkshire Police said officers were called to the home after paramedics found two people with multiple injuries believed to have been inflicted by a bladed weapon.
The pair were confirmed to have died at the scene. A 34-year-old man, from Huddersfield, is being held in custody on suspicion of murder.
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On Tuesday the former brother and sister in law of Ms Higton paid tribute to her as 'the best mum' and said the family was 'absolutely devastated' as they placed flowers on behalf of her two eldest children at the scene.
Her former brother-in-law, who asked not to be named, said his brother had been in a relationship with mother-of-four Ms Higton for seven years and was the father of her two oldest children, daughters aged nine and 10.
He told the PA news agency the children 'were in the property when the incident took place'.
He described Ms Higton as 'bubbly, outgoing, fun' and 'a great mum'. Several active inquiries by the West Yorkshire Police’s homicide and major inquiry team remain ongoing.
The street was still cordoned off on Tuesday morning, with five police cars still at the scene. A resident from the street behind Harpe Inge said: “I knew it was serious, with the air ambulance and the forensics. They were out all day.”
A card left with flowers at the scene said: “RIP my darling. We love you. No more suffering.”
Another said: “I am so sorry for how things have ended.”
Scott I’Anson, who lives on Harpe Inge, said he did not know the woman who lived in the house but had seen her and her children. They kept to themselves but a lot of people liked them,” he said.
“It’s quite a big family street. I knew she had a partner but I never met him.”
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