Family friends grappling with deaths of 2 kids allegedly killed by father

HOUSTON (FOX 26) - When one-and-a-half year old Annabelle Faith and her 10-year-old brother Marcel saw their father last Saturday they had their usual reaction.

"Every time when their dad came by they screamed 'Daddy, Daddy,'" said family friend Val Maukana.

The couple had a fight last Thursday. Jean Pierre Ndossoka, 61, told his wife, who is 20 years his junior, to leave. She and the kids had been sleeping in her recently opened braid shop in the 11300 block of Fondren.

Family friend Patrice Nsouary had just arrived from Fort Worth for a vacation in Houston.

"She had no reason to fear for their safety. Nobody could tell you they were scared, skeptical, nobody could say that," Nsouary said.

Two pictures were taken of the children last Saturday. It would be the last day of their young lives.

"At 2:40 he called the mother and gave the kids the phone. It was like 'Hi mommy, I love you mommy, I love you too, I miss you,'" Maukana recalled.

Ndossoka called his estranged wife back two hours later.

"She called me. She told me 'Jean Pierre called me and said he killed the kids'. I'm saying 'he's just lying, he's always talking about stupid stuff he's just lying,'" Maukana said.

The father was rushed to the hospital in stable condition after attempting suicide.

He told police his 8-year-old son pleaded for mercy and the last words he said before having his throat slashed were "Daddy I'm sorry."

Ndossoka is now charged with capital murder.

The family says they are having trouble coming up with the funds to bury the children.