A Missouri mother killed her two kids in an effort to “sacrifice” her son“ and then confessed to police her unspeakable crime, authorities said.
Ashley Parmeley, 36, of Festus, Missouri, had originally been charged with second-degree murder after she walked into the Festus Police Department on May 28 and told police that she killed both of her children earlier that day.
When police searched her vehicle they found Scarlet, 9, inside the trunk, dead from multiple gunshot wounds.
On Wednesday, her charges were upgraded to first-degree murder in connection to the killing of her daughter, WEAU reports.
According to police, Parmeley first tried to kill her 2-year-old son, Isaac, in St Francois County, Missouri and then shot dead her 9-year-old daughter. She later allegedly realized her son Isaac was still alive and drove north to the Timber Creek Resort, where she allegedly drowned him in a water fountain.
Parmeley allegedly told investigators that she intended to "sacrifice" Isaac before she killed both of the children. The probable cause statement did not elaborate on what Parmeley meant by sacrificing her child.
She is being charged with one count of first-degree murder in Jefferson County, where she allegedly killed her son, and another charge of first-degree murder in St Francois County, where she allegedly killed her daughter.
Parmeley is being represented by a public defender and has not yet entered a plea.
The murders shook the community, including Ginny Russell whose daughter played baseball with Scarlet. She called her an "amazing little girl."
The children were honored with a vigil on Wednesday evening. Youth baseball games at the Twin Cities Little League fields were canceled except for the game Scarlet's team was scheduled to play that day. The games began with a balloon release in the children's honor.
“I can’t fathom why this would happen to anybody, let alone to two sweet children that had nothing but love in their hearts,” Brandy Trask, who lives near Ms Parmeley and whose daughter also played with Scarlet, told WEAU reporters.
Paremeley had reportedly struggled with mental health issues prior to murdering her children, according to a report by KMOV.
She detailed her struggle in a Facebook post from 2020.
“I isolated myself. I came off as very timid and unfriendly and in all reality, I needed a friend more than anything," she wrote at the time. "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.”
The broadcaster also found that Ms Parmeley had been involved in a six-year custody battle with her daughter's father.
She also became the guardian of her 11-year-old niece, who has since turned 18 and aged out of Ms Parmeley's care.
Court records also showed that Ms Parmeley's uncle murdered his parents — Ms Parmeley's grandparents — in 1999.
GoFundMe pages have been set up to help with the funeral expenses for both Scarlet and Isaac.
