A South Carolina mother told investigators she was unable to recall the last time she had given her two young daughters food or anything to drink before deputies discovered both children dead inside the family’s Ladson home, according to affidavits reviewed by News Outlet.
Justine Marie May, 31, has been charged with two counts of homicide by child abuse following the Sept. 29 deaths of her daughters at the residence outside Charleston, court records show.
According to the affidavits, Charleston County Sheriff’s Office deputies conducting a welfare check found May outside the home crying and allegedly “speaking incoherently.”
Justine Marie May, 31, is charged with two counts of homicide by child abuse in connection with the deaths of her two young daughters in Ladson, S.C. (Charleston County Sheriff’s Office)
Deputies went inside to check on the girls and found both children dead, the court documents state.
May reportedly told detectives that the prior two weeks had passed in a “blur.” She said she could not remember when she had last fed her daughters or given them something to drink, according to the affidavits.
Investigators said May believed the children died after going without food. She also acknowledged that failing to feed them amounted to neglect, the documents state. May reportedly told authorities she had been the only adult in the home and the girls’ sole caregiver for several weeks.
The Charleston County Sheriff’s Office of Professional Standards in South Carolina is reviewing the agency’s response to the case. (Google Maps)
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The affidavits identified the children as approximately 18 months and 30 months old when they died.
Investigators alleged that May displayed an “extreme indifference for human life” by failing to provide the girls with basic food and hydration, calling the deprivation a “main contributor to their death.”
Authorities issued a separate arrest warrant for each child, charging May under South Carolina law with homicide by child abuse.
A stock photograph shows police emergency lights. The Charleston County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the deaths of two young girls, while their mother, Justine Marie May, faces two homicide by child abuse charges. (iStock)
The Charleston County Sheriff’s Office said deputies had separate encounters with May and the children twice in August and three times in September. Published reports say deputies did not observe apparent warning signs during those visits.
The last reported contact with the children before their deaths took place Sept. 20.
The agency’s Office of Professional Standards has opened an internal review of the response. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division’s Special Victims Unit and the Department of Child Fatalities are also assisting with the investigation, according to published reports.
May was booked into the Charleston County jail on Sept. 29 and was still being held as of Friday, according to online jail records reviewed by News Outlet. The records show two homicide by child abuse charges.
