Yahoo News 'Disheveled' Mom Allegedly Confesses To Drowning 2-Year-Old, Shooting 9-Year-Old
A Missouri mother turned herself in at a police station Tuesday and said she had killed her two children, ages 2 and 9, who were found at separate locations in Jefferson County and later declared dead, according to the county’s sheriff.
Ashley Parmeley, 36, entered the Festus Police Department “disheveled” and wet at about 10:30 a.m. to report that she had shot her 9-year-old daughter and drowned her 2-year-old, Jefferson County Sheriff Dave Marshak said at a news conference.
The girl was identified by her school district as Scarlet Parmeley, who would have been in fourth grade in the fall. Her teachers described her as “bubbly, energetic, and trustworthy,” according to a statement shared with HuffPost.
“They say she was caring and compassionate, eager to please, with a good sense of humor. She could make friends with anyone and she was very much looking forward to moving to the 4th grade when classes resume in August,” according to the Festus R-VI School District, about 30 miles south of St. Louis.
Scarlet appeared to have a single gunshot wound when police found her inside Parmeley’s car, which was parked at the police station, according to Marshak. Despite efforts to save the girl’s life, she was pronounced dead soon after.
Police discovered the 2-year-old unresponsive in a fountain outside Timber Creek Resort, a Holiday Inn property about 13 miles southwest of Festus, according to Marshak. He was later pronounced dead. A GoFundMe request to help the family identified the boy as Isaac.
It’s unclear whether the family had been staying at the resort.
After being read her Miranda rights, a sheriff’s officer said, the mother confessed to shooting Scarlet and drowning her son, according to the probable cause statement submitted by the sheriff’s office and obtained by HuffPost.
Parmeley has been charged with one count of second-degree murder in connection with the death of her 2-year-old, but sheriff’s officials said they intended to pursue further charges as they investigate Scarlet’s death, according to the arrest document.
An arrest warrant obtained by HuffPost said that Parmeley was being held without bond. It was unclear whether she had an attorney.
Abby Tinnin, Scarlet’s teacher, wrote on Facebook that her student loved “talking about her little brother” and won a “Squirrel Award” in her classroom for her “ability to gather people up who needed a friend and make them feel included.”
“My heart breaks for Scarlet and her brother, who had full lives ahead of them,” Tinnin wrote. “My heart breaks for her class, who lost a friend. My heart breaks for the parents who are navigating these difficult conversations with their own children.”
The two children had different fathers, according to a fundraiser for Scarlet’s family. Scarlet’s father addressed the deaths in a tribute post on social media, stating he “never thought this day would come” and that his daughter was loved by everybody she met.
“You used to say I love you so much, but what you didn’t know is I always loved you first! This should not have happened,” her father said in the post.
