Crime & Safety

Family Raising Funds for 3-Year-Old Murder-Suicide Victim's Funeral

"We want to give our precious Zuzia the proper burial she deserves," older brother says of his 3-year-old sister stabbed to death in a murder-suicide.

The family of Zuzanna Bzdek, the three-year-old girl who was allegedly stabbed to death by her father before he took his own life, is collecting funds for her funeral on GoFundMe.

Zuzanna’s funeral fundraiser page showed a picture of a happy three-year-old in pigtails, wearing a pink GAP sweatshirt and mugging for the camera. The family is trying to raise $7,500 for funeral costs. By late Saturday evening, $5,800 had been raised.

“We are trying to raise money for my deceased sister Zuzia's funeral service and wake. The whole family would really appreciate if each person contributed some sort of dollar amount for our cause, and to every contributor, thank you sincerely for your time and support given such an atrocity. You will always be in our hearts,” her older brother, Emanuel Szyszka wrote.

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Woodridge Police say that Zuzanna was stabbed by her father, Robert Bzdek, 34, before he took his own life Friday afternoon. The three-year-old girl was still alive when police arrived and was rushed to Edward Hospital and Health Services in Naperville, where she died during surgery.

While police did not release information on Robert Bzdek’s cause of death, his teen stepson and Zuzanna’s older brother, Emanuel Szyszka, told the Chicago Tribune that his stepfather hanged himself in the bedroom.

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Szyszka described coming home around 4 p.m. Friday and finding bloody footprints leading from the master bedroom. Bzdek was still alive when his stepson called out for him, who told Emanuel that he had cut his feet on broken glass.

When Szyszka tried to get into the bedroom, he discovered that his stepfather had barricaded the door with two-by-four from the inside. After he called police, he learned that Bzdek had hanged himself, and that his sister -- “my precious Zuzia” -- had been stabbed in the chest, the Tribune reported.

Woodridge Police have not indicated a motive for Bzdek, but a family friend reported to WGN that there were marital problems and Bzdek was in the process of moving out.

On Saturday night, Emanuel thanked supporters on Zuzia’s fundraiser page, asking people not to search for them.

“I know that there has been lots of speculation about our whereabouts, but please don't search for us. We want to grieve in peace and we are in a safe location,” he wrote.

Donations to help pay funeral costs for Zuzanna Bzdek can be made at GoFundMe. 


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