A mother turned herself in to police in Festus, Missouri, last week and confessed she had fatally shot her nine-year-old daughter and drowned her two-year-old son.
Jefferson County Sheriff Dave Marshak announced in a May 28 press conference that a 36-year-old mother had entered the Festus Police Department and informed officers she had killed her children.
Marshak said officers soon located the woman’s nine-year-old daughter in her car in the police department parking lot with a gunshot wound. He explained that officers attempted life-saving measures, but it was too late.
Police also dispatched to Timber Creek Resort in an unincorporated area of Festus and found the woman’s two-year-old son. Once again, the officers attempted life-saving efforts but were too late to save the toddler.
While he left the suspect’s name out in his initial press conferences, Marshak’s office identified the suspect as Ashley Parmeley on the evening of May 28. Prosecutors initially charged her with second-degree murder for her son’s death, but the Jefferson County Prosecutor’s Office subsequently upgraded the charge to first-degree murder.
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Fox 8 reported they reviewed court records that indicated Parmeley told police she intended to sacrifice her two-year-old son, identified as Isaac.
She reportedly first sought to kill her son in St. Francois County, but shot her daughter—identified as Scarlet—at some point in the process as both children were in her car. Police say Parmeley then began driving north with both of her children in her car before she recalled that her two-year-old son was still alive.
The court records reportedly indicate Parmeley then told police she arrived at Timber Creek Resort and proceeded to drown her son. The child’s body was reportedly found in a water fountain.
Fox 8 reported there were concerns about Parmeley’s mental health. Parmeley reportedly shared a social media post in 2020, describing struggles with depression and stating she was “always questioning if the kids would be happier or better off without me being their primary caregiver because I knew that they deserved a much better role model.”
