Heart-wrenching footage from a home surveillance camera has surfaced, capturing children playing innocently while their father, a Texas restaurateur, muttered abusive remarks to himself and schemed a tragic murder-suicide.
On May 4, Matthew Mitchell, 52, fatally shot his wife, Thy, 39, and their two children, Maya, aged eight, and Max, four, in their $1.2 million home in Houston before turning the gun on himself.
Ring cameras installed throughout the Mitchell residence reveal poignant glimpses into the family’s final days, featuring video snippets from April 17 to the tragic day of May 4.
The collection of footage includes tender moments shared between the parents and their children, filled with laughter, smiles, and games of charades that capture the family’s joyful interactions.
In one touching clip, Maya lightly tiptoed into Mitchell’s home office, endearingly inquiring, “Daddy? How do you spell ‘appreciation day’?”
The eight-year-old was working on a card for her teacher.
Max, surrounded by a collection of toys, swayed back and forth in a rocking chair ahead of the morning school run.
‘Is it show and tell, mama?’ he asked, sitting in the chair. He let out a disappointed ‘oh’ when Thy informed him that his class was not having the activity that day.
Matthew Mitchell, 52, a wealthy Texas restaurateur and former pharmaceutical CEO, murdered his pregnant wife and their two young children in a horror murder-suicide in May
The trove of footage began with a video from April 17, 2026 that showed Max telling his father Matthew Mitchell ‘I love you, dada’ as his sister Maya played on a tablet
In the days leading up to the murder, Matthew Mitchell was seen pacing around his house uttering to himself as he plotted to kill his wife, children and then himself
In another clip, Max told his father: ‘I love you, dada.’
The hours of footage shows how, to Thy and her children, nothing was out of the ordinary – but for Mitchell, those final days were dark.
The 52-year-old owner of Traveler’s Table was facing massive financial struggles and accusations of fraud in the lead up to the killings, a new lawsuit filed by Thy’s parents, Thuy Mai and Lan Huong Tran, alleged.
The footage, submitted as evidence in a wrongful death suit against Mitchell’s estate, begins on April 17 and shows the unsuspecting family living their lives as normal.
Over the next 16 days, Mitchell exchanged ‘I love yous’ with his wife and children, but when they were not around he was audibly plotting their murders.
His breakdown appears to have begun on the afternoon of April 24, when Mitchell paced back and forth in his living room and admitted that their financial situation was ‘too far gone.’
‘We can’t stop it. Losing our money. Is there even a remote hope? Not even if I was strong enough,’ he said in one clip.
He said he was considering ‘ending my life now’ and openly admitted to being dishonest with his wife, the video showed.
Mitchell, stabbing what appears to be a plate of food repeatedly with his fork on April 27, muttered out loud: ‘I just want out of this. I want out of this. Please, please, please’
Mitchell sits in his son’s rocking chair on April 27, looking down at his lap as if he was reviewing a document. ‘There’s so much money. There is so much money. No wonder. No wonder’
‘What am I doing?’ he questioned. ‘Am I just going to try to lie to her?’
On April 27, he had apparently decided the only solution was to end their lives.
‘I gotta kill everybody,’ he said that evening, following hours of panicked pacing, self-criticisms and pleading for an answer.
His apparent breakdown began late that morning as he reflected on the demise of his ‘great life.’
He sat in his living room repeatedly saying how this ‘should never have happened,’ and by noon, he was begging for a solution.
‘I just want out of this. I want out of this. Please, please, please,’ he said.
‘I wanted to spare her pain. Spare my kids the pain. There’s no way to figure this out.’
‘I just need to do it. I could have done it last night. Now I have to wait all over again.’
Four-year-old Max, surrounded by his toys, swayed back and forth in his rocking chair ahead of the morning school run April 30
‘Is it show and tell, mama?’ Max asked Thy as he prepared to go to school on April 30. He let out a disappointed ‘oh’ when she told him that his class was not having the activity that day
Matthew Mitchell watches as his daughter Maya plays charades with her tutor on April 30
He voiced his fears of being ‘sued into oblivion’ and being forced to ‘stay in this torture chamber every day.’
‘What’s happening to me? What’s happening to me? What’s happened?’ he said.
‘You’ve got to end it. You can’t fix any of this. You’re not strong enough.’
Pacing in and out of Max’s room, he said: ‘Do I take everything? There’s no chance. This is so f*****g stupid – I’m so f*****g stupid. I f****d my kids up. I f****d myself up. Now I get it. Jesus Christ. Holy f***. Holy f***.’
He sat down in his son’s rocking chair, looking down at his lap as if he was reviewing a document.
‘There’s so much money. There is so much money. No wonder. No wonder.’
Three days later, Mitchell seemed to question his plan.
He weighed his ‘options’ over and over again, but by the afternoon he decided: ‘End it. End it. You can’t help anyone now. You’ve done quite enough.’
By May 3, he appeared to have come to terms with his decision to kill his family and himself. As he paced in his bedroom, he was heard saying: ‘I can’t stop myself. I can’t stop it for them. I can’t stop it for… I’m in such a deep hole. I’m sorry, Mr Mai’
Just hours before her death on May 3, Maya tip-toed into Matthew Mitchell’s home office and innocently asked: ‘Daddy? How do you spell “appreciation day”?’
Maya danced into her parents bedroom on May 3 to show them a project she was working on. Thy replied: ‘Oh, that’s really nice. Wow, I’m really impressed with you, Maya’
By May 3, he appeared to have come to terms with his decision to kill his family and himself.
‘I can’t stop myself. I can’t stop it for them. I can’t stop it for… I’m in such a deep hole. I’m sorry, Mr Mai.’
The children were last seen alive on camera on May 3 around 10.15pm as Mitchell helped them brush their teeth and get ready for bed, the lawsuit alleged.
He was seen moving throughout the home between 3am and 4am the next day, the complaint said.
Police found the family dead inside the residence around 5.26pm on May 4. Officers said Maya and Max’s bodies were found in their beds.
The lawsuit claims that Mitchell ‘planned and plotted the murders of his wife and children in order to avoid public shame stemming from financial failure and fraud he had committed.’
Mitchell helping Maya and Max brush their teeth and prepare for bed on May 3 around 10.15pm. This is the last time the children were seen on camera
Mitchell was seen moving throughout the home between 3am and 4am on May 4. Police found the entire family dead in the residence around 5.26pm that day
Ring cameras placed throughout the couple’s $1.2 million Houston home, above, have now shed some light on how the Mitchell family spent their final days
The complaint further accuses Mitchell and his mother, Bettie Mitchell, of conspiring to hide $1.4 million in funds from Thy by moving them into an account controlled by Bettie before the murder-suicide.
The alleged transfer of funds was intended to keep the money away from ‘those who might seek to recover them based on likely bankruptcy and the fraud [Mitchell] had previously committed.’
Mitchell’s sister Meredith was also enlisted to help execute the transfer, the complaint alleged.
Bettie allegedly returned the funds back to their original accounts after the murders in an attempt to ‘conceal her, Meredith and Matthew’s attempts to hide and protect the money,’ the filing read.
Thy’s parents are seeking damages for wrongful death, punitive damages and a court-created trust over Mitchell’s estate.
The Daily Mail has approached Bettie and Meredith’s attorney for comment.
Authorities said the couple’s two children, aged eight and four, were found dead in their beds
Mitchell opened Traveler’s Table with his wife Thy, a restaurateur and board member of the Texas Restaurant Association. In September 2025, the couple were named Restaurateurs Of The Year in Houston
Mitchell was the owner of Houston restaurants Traveler’s Table and Traveler’s Cart, which is slated to close on Friday.
According to his biography on his restaurant’s website, Matthew studied in France, Italy and at Oxford University in England, and early in his career, he worked as a journalist in London and New York City.
When he returned to Texas, he attended Rice University and entered the pharmaceutical industry.
He was then the president and CEO of the Texas Center for Drug Development, Inc, a clinical research company.
He went on to open Traveler’s Table with his wife Thy, a restaurateur and board member of the Texas Restaurant Association.
In September 2025, the couple was named Restaurateurs Of The Year in Houston.
