Final words of mum, 40, who killed ‘severely disabled’ daughter, 8, and took her own life revealed in tragic note

Three notes were found on the property written before the murder-suicide
THE tragic final words left by a mother who killed her severely disabled daughter before ending her own life, have been revealed.

Martina Karos, 40, killed her blind, non-verbal daughter, 8, and then herself in their home with toxic carbon monoxide, the coroner’s court heard.

Now, a heart-breaking note with Martina’s final words give an insight into the tragedy.

“I love my daughter truly and that’s why I have taken her with me, due to her severe disability”, the note read.

“She will never be able to have an independent life.”

Bolton Coroners Court heard this week how Martina died by suicide and her daughter Eleni was unlawfully killed.

In court, extracts were read from three notes that were found on the property written by Martina.

“I just couldn’t live my life like this anymore,” a note read, addressed to “whom it may concern”.

She described the end of a recent relationship, which she said resulted in feelings of “loneliness, sadness and isolation have just taken over my life”.

Martina wrote she didn’t want Eleni to go into care or become an “unwanted” child.

The young girl was blind, non-verbal and had severely restricted mobility.

Her mum, a linguist and translator, was her full-time carer, the inquest heard.

She had previously been treated for symptoms of anxiety and depression over several years and been prescribed anti-depressants.

Martina was born in Poland and moved to the UK from Italy in 2003.

On September 24, 2024, emergency services raced to their home in Kersal, Salford after reports that Eleni Edwards, 8, hadn’t gone to school.

After paramedics forced entry into the house they made the tragic discovery of Eleni and Martina’s bodies in the same bedroom.

They were declared dead at the scene on September 24, 2024.

Pathologists later ruled that the pair died due to “carbon monoxide toxicity”.

Area coroner Peter Sigee ruled today that: “Ms Karos had deliberately placed herself and her daughter in an environment where they were overcome by the toxic effects of carbon monoxide with the intention and effect of ending both their lives.

“Ms Karos was the sole parental carer for her eight-year-old daughter, who had profound physical and mental disabilities, which had become apparent within months of her birth.

“Her daughter was a happy child who was very much loved and very well cared for by Ms Karos throughout her life.

“Despite a high level of good quality, focused support and care from family, her limited group of friends and professionals (including GP, specialist mental health services, social workers and carers)

“Ms Karos experienced feelings of extreme loneliness and isolation which overwhelmed her.”

Mr Sigee added that he would not be making a prevention of future deaths report.

He explained that he could not identify any failings in the care and support Martina and her daughter received.

“Ms Karos decided to end her life by suicide,” Mr Sigee’s concluded.

He continued: “She was concerned as to the care and support that her daughter would receive after her death and so decided to end her daughter’s life at the same time as her own.

“Ms Karos had continuously denied any thoughts of harming herself or her daughter in the period prior to her death, there was no objective basis to suspect that Ms Karos was contemplating/at increased risk of acting as she did at this time and this tragic incident could not reasonably have been foreseen.”

At just a few months old, Eleni was diagnosed with several conditions which left her “severely disabled”.

Martina said her caring duties caused her to feel “socially isolated” and “lonely”, the inquest heard.

Her loved ones said her mental health declined rapidly at the end of 2023 and she started expressing suicidal thoughts.

Eleni was then put under a child protection plan in January 2024 due to a perceived risk of “emotional harm” from the “unintended impacts” of her mum’s low moods.

The young girl was still under the plan at the time of her death and she was meant to have a review later that day.

Martina’s mental health was thought to have improved by the summer of 2024 and her GP said she was “stable” and that she had denied any suicidal thoughts.

None of the professionals involved with the family reported any immediate concerns about the pair near the time of the murder-suicide.

Representatives argued that the professionals had not “caused or contributed” to their tragic deaths.