A Missouri woman has been charged with first-degree murder after she admitted to killing her two children, telling police she was “trying to sacrifice” her 2-year-old son.
Ashley Parmelee, 36, turned herself in to the Festus Police Department last week and confessed to killing the children. Daily Mail report.
According to court documents, the crazed woman detailed how she shot and killed her 9-year-old daughter, Scarlett, in St. Francois County and attempted to “sacrifice” her son, Isaac, only to discover the murder attempt had failed.
According to records, Parmelee was driving north with Scarlett’s body and Isaac in his car when he realized his son was still alive. Obtained From Fox 8 New Orleans.
Investigators allege that’s when she completed her horrific act of drowning the toddler at Timber Creek Resort.
Little Scarlett was found shot to death in Parmelee’s car in the parking lot of the Festus Police Station, while little Isaac’s body was found in a resort fountain about 13 miles away.
Parmelee was originally charged with second-degree murder in his son’s death, but that charge was upgraded to first-degree murder Wednesday as details of his son’s drowning became clear, according to the Jefferson County Prosecutor’s Office.
Jefferson County Sheriff Dave Marshak said Parmelee called police from the police station parking lot to say he had shot and drowned his children, KSDK report.
When police came outside, the woman was wet and “a little disheveled,” Marshak said at a solemn news conference.
More details on the murder of two Jeffco children. The second child was found at Timber Creek Resort. Sheriff Marshak previously said the mother was soaking wet when she entered the Festus Police Station. Crime scene tape is at the entrance. translation: pic.twitter.com/SytkXS8CeV
— Russell Kinsaul (@russellkinsaul) May 28, 2024
“This situation is a tragedy for our community. It’s a tragedy for the family, it’s a tragedy for the victim and for everyone who knows this family,” the sheriff said.
St. Louis media had been reporting on Parmelee’s mental health concerns for years, up until just hours before the double homicide.
Indeed, there were concerns about Parmelee’s mental state: Hours before the children were killed, Parmelee changed her profile picture to a black screen.
In 2020, Parmelee posted about her struggles with depression, reading in part, “I was isolating myself. I came across as very shy and unsociable, but the truth is, I needed friends more than anything. I knew my children needed better role models and I always wondered if they would be happier/better off if I was no longer their primary caregiver.”
According to family court records, the woman and Scarlett’s father were fighting over the daughter from 2015 to 2021.
Parmelee is currently being held without bail in the Jefferson County Jail and could face the death penalty or life in prison without parole if convicted of both first-degree murder charges.
A fundraising campaign has been launched to cover funeral expenses for both men. scarlet and Isaac.
