Kristopher Karolkiewicz lost his job at National American Heart Association just weeks before his killed his wife, Amanda “Mandy” Karolkiewicz, and their six children in an apparent murder-suicide.
Just days after the family died on Friday, July 24, the American Heart Association confirmed to Us that Kristopher, 47, was fired from his job.
“The American Heart Association national headquarters is aware that one of its former staff members was among those who perished under tragic circumstances Friday in a western Michigan home. Kristopher Karolkiewicz was an employee of the American Heart Association from September of 2023 until earlier this month, July 2026, when his employment ended,” the organization said in a statement to Us on Tuesday, July 28.
Kristopher “served as a national vice president of sales and marketing, supporting the division of the Heart Association responsible for CPR and first aid training and products,” according to the organization. “He worked remotely for the national headquarters operation from his home. He did not work in the local Michigan offices or with the local Michigan operations of the Heart Association.”
“As an organization with professional staff who are dedicated to helping others, we are devastated by the news out of Grand Haven, and our thoughts are with the loved ones of those who lost their lives in this tragedy,” the statement concluded.
As Us previously reported, Kristopher, Mandy, 39, and their six children were found dead inside of their home in Grand Haven Township on the morning of July 24 after the residence had been set on fire.
The Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office confirmed on Monday, July 27, that they believed Kristopher shot Amanda and the children before he set the home ablaze.
Detectives ruled Mandy and the children’s deaths as homicide, while Kristopher’s death was ruled a suicide. The family’s pets died from smoke inhalation at the time of the fire. However, it’s not currently clear how many pets the family had.
Two years before their tragic deaths, Mandy opened up about her and Kristopher’s alleged marital issues in a series of Reddit posts.
In one post from 2024, she explained that they met when she was an intern while they worked for the same company. “He was divorced and older than me … fast forward ten years and five kids, he was cheating with the intern again — the same age I was when I was the intern,” Mandy wrote, per the Holland Sentinel.
It’s not currently clear what company they were working at where they met or where Kristopher was working when he allegedly had an affair with an intern.
“After about a year of self-loathing, I remember crying and looking at myself in the mirror and realizing how [expletive] it was that I was the one who was living so miserably because of what he did,” she allegedly wrote. “I finally realized that I had been the only person who has ever showed up for myself my whole entire life.”
Mandy also wrote that she was willing to work on fixing the marriage because of their six children.
“I kept telling myself, ‘I love my kids more than I hate my husband right now.’ They have no idea — I faked it ’till we made it. We’re in a much better place 4.5 years out, but it’s still a fight to stay in a healthy place,” she allegedly said.
