Kelly Mariel Coca, 28, and her 5-year-old daughter, Karla Valeria Eguez, were found dead in their home in the 2800-block of South Kildare Avenue in the Little Village neighborhood.
A man identified as the woman's husband and the child's father also was found and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in critical condition. Authorities were not making his name public.
Chicago police say all three had been shot in the head in an apparent double murder suicide attempt Monday night. They say the man was the shooter. His gunshot wound was self-inflicted. Police say they believe he shot his estranged wife and daughter, then turned the gun on himself. Mariel's father lives just upstairs.
Coca's husband lives in Miami, but he made his way Monday to Chicago home where Coca lives with her mother and sister. Her relatives described themselves as a big Bolivian family.
"He was angry because my cousin was doing it all on her own," said relative Nohemi Cossio.
Coca worked for a cleaning service and was raising her daughter by herself, who attended kindergarten at Little Village's Epiphany Catholic School. Her family says the relationship with her husband was violent, and it allegedly culminated in murder. The two had been separated for years, relatives said.
"I want to be angry; it's just that I can't. I'm just really saddened right now. I hope he lives so he can acknowledge what he's done to my family and to his very own daughter and his wife," cousin Claudio Cossio said.
Relatives tell ABC7 Chicago the man served in Afghanistan as an Army Ranger. According to Cook County court records, he was charged with domestic battery in 2011, but the case was dismissed.
"He claimed to love her so much that he would do anything for his daughter. And for him to go into their house, and first thing he does is see his own daughter and shoots her because he's so angry because he cannot be with Kelly," Nohemi Cossio said. "I mean, I just have no words for that."
A man who did not want to be identified told ABC7 Chicago his girlfriend lived next door to the crime scene.
"She said she heard commotion going on, arguments, people screaming," the man said.
Some in Coca's family believe the husband carefully planned the attack.
"He sent her pictures of the weapon that he had bought and told her that he was gonna kill himself, and she paid no mind to it. It was not the first time he had said that. So, she didn't believe it," said Nohemi Cossio.
Kelly Coca and her daughter had just returned from visiting Disney World a few days ago.
No charges had been filed Tuesday.
