A 4-year-old girl died Tuesday after her mother shot her and then shot herself inside a west Houston townhome, hours after a judge awarded primary custody to the girl’s father, according to police. The mother was rushed to the hospital and died Wednesday.
Houston Police responded to the 300 block of Terra Reserve Place, in the Memorial area, around 5:45 p.m. after reports of gunfire. Officers went to the third floor and found Vivian Savella with what appeared to be a gunshot wound. Police described the wound as being to the face, ABC13 reported. Paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene.
Officers found the girl’s mother in the home with what investigators described as a self-inflicted wound. She was taken to a hospital in critical condition and was initially expected to survive, but she later died at the hospital Wednesday. Police are investigating the case as an apparent murder-suicide.
The shooting occurred the same day a judge awarded primary custody of Vivian to her father, Aaron Savella, and she had been expected to go to him that evening, according to a statement released through family attorneys Tuesday night but she never arrived to the father place
“She came home, shot her 4-year-old, and then shot herself,” said Lt. Larry Crowson of the Houston Police Department’s homicide division. “There was a custody hearing earlier today that didn’t go well for the mother.”
Two other people were inside the townhome when the shots were fired: Vivian’s stepfather and a childcare worker. Investigators said they heard the gunfire and forced their way into the child’s room, where they discovered what had happened.
Homicide detectives later interviewed both at the scene as they worked to establish the sequence of events.
The mother was identified as Cibelle Savella by The New York Post, which reported her age as 35 and that she was originally from Brazil, but KPRC initially listed her age as 30. Relish Wire News could not immediately confirm the age conflict.
The couple had divorced back in November 2024 after about four years of marriage. The Post estimated the three-story townhome where the shooting occurred to be valued at about $824,000.
“I don’t think anyone in this courtroom on Tuesday contemplated this could be the outcome,” Charlotte Rainwater, Aaron Savella’s attorney, said Tuesday. She said Savella had been patiently working through the custody case and followed the court process. Rainwater has practiced family law for 28 years. She said she had “never experienced anything like this.”
The family released a statement through its attorneys Tuesday night. “He trusted the courts. He followed every order. He waited for the process to work,” the statement said.
The family said Vivian was “loved without limit” by her father and by others close to her. “Our family is devastated,” the pain is strong for the family at the moment, “There are no words for what has been taken from us.” The family asked for privacy.
The Daily Mail reported that a court filing in the custody case had imposed several restrictions on Cibelle Savella, including a bar on speaking Portuguese with Vivian unless a supervisor understood the language and restrictions on attending school performances and extracurricular activities.
The outlet also reported that the filing they reviewed required her to pay child support and half of out-of-pocket medical costs.
A motive had not been established as of the time Relish Wire conducted its investigation for this headline.
