Disturbing police bodycam video has captured the final weeks of two South Carolina toddlers’ lives, showing them alive at home shortly before authorities discovered their bodies in a case investigators say involved starvation and neglect.
Justine May, 31, was arrested on homicide charges on September 29 following the deaths of her children, 15-month-old Harlow Deacon and two-year-old Emory Deacon.
Officers found both children dead inside the family’s Ladson residence. The coroner determined that they died from starvation and dehydration caused by neglect.
Authorities carried out at least 13 welfare checks at the home during the weeks before the children were found.
The Charleston County Sheriff’s Office has now released bodycam footage from two of those visits, conducted on August 30 and September 12, offering a glimpse inside the home before the children’s deaths.
During one visit, May appeared frustrated when she opened the door and again found police outside, according to the footage.
“How can I help you?” she asked as children could be heard crying and dogs barked inside. She then told officers, “No one can come in.”
When deputies asked her to come outside so they could speak with her, May responded sharply, asking, “Why?”
Justine May, 31, was arrested in connection with the deaths of her children, Harlow Deacon, 15 months, and Emory Deacon, two
Bodycam footage from two welfare checks shows the children appearing happy and safe in their home
Officers asked whether she had been hearing voices or posed a danger to anyone. May, the children’s mother, said no and claimed her former fiancé had fabricated concerns about a mental health crisis.
Asked to explain her version of events, she declined. “I don’t want to tell it. The police know,” she said. “I’m not doing this at all. I’m not telling my side at all.”
May also accused her ex-fiancé and her mother of being “crazy” and said they repeatedly called police about her. She made those comments while holding one child, as the other crawled close to her feet.
During the August 30 check, officers were permitted to enter the residence. The home appeared clean and orderly in the video, while the children moved around alongside their mother as deputies stood inside.
A social worker explained that officials had become concerned because no one had seen the children for more than a week. He also said their father, Zack Deacon, had attempted to visit them.
The social worker further told May that authorities had received allegations that her mental health had “apparently declined” since her separation from the children’s father.
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May rejected that claim and instead alleged that Zack was the one displaying “erratic behavior” when he came to the home.
When a caseworker pointed out that one of the toddlers appeared to have a rash, May said the child had a diaper rash, describing it as something a “normal baby” could experience.
After the children were found, May allegedly told police she had been in a “blur” for several weeks and could not remember when she had last fed them
The coroner ruled the children died from starvation and dehydration due to neglect
At least 13 wellness checks had been call to the mother’s home prior to their deaths
Their father, Zack Deacon, is asking for a review of conduct into police. ‘Emory and Harlow deserve the truth,’ his lawyer Gedney Howe said in a statement
None of the visits resulted in deputies finding any concerning behavior, the sheriff’s office previously stated.
No welfare checks were made after September 20, a little over a week before the girls would be found dead. On September 22, the sheriff’s office made the decision to stop going to May’s home.
‘The decision was made by the on-duty supervisor to discontinue additional welfare checks based on the totality of the information available at that time, including the previous contacts, the involvement of DSS and Mobile Crisis, and the absence of new actionable information indicating an immediate threat to Ms. May or her children,’ Sheriff Carl Ritchie said in a statement.
When police arrived at her door on September 29, the mom allegedly admitted she had been in a ‘blur’ for two weeks and couldn’t remember the last time she fed her children.
Deputies then found the children’s bodies inside the home.
The Sheriff’s Office is now working through the bodycam footage of the welfare check to create a timeline of the girls’ deaths, Ritchie said at a press conference.
Zack, through his lawyers, has asked for a review of conduct into how the police handled the case.
‘Emory and Harlow deserve the truth,’ lawyer Gedney Howe wrote in a statement. ‘Their father deserves to see the file, not to learn about the case on the news.’
Our News Outlet has reached out to Zack’s lawyers for comment.
