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A South Carolina mother told investigators she could not remember the last time she gave her two young daughters food or something to drink before deputies found both children dead inside their home, according to affidavits reviewed by Fox News Digital.
Justine Marie May, 31, faces two counts of homicide by child abuse in connection with the Sept. 29 deaths of her daughters at the family’s home in Ladson, outside Charleston, court documents show.
Charleston County Sheriff’s Office deputies responding to a welfare check allegedly encountered May outside the home crying and “speaking incoherently,” according to the affidavits.
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Justine Marie May, 31, faces 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 entered the home to check on the children and found both dead, the documents state.
May told detectives the previous two weeks had been a “blur” and that she could not remember when she last fed the children or gave them something to drink, according to the affidavits.
She allegedly told investigators she believed the children died because they did not eat and acknowledged that not feeding them was neglectful, the documents state. May also said she had been the only person at the home and the children’s sole caregiver during the previous few weeks.
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The Charleston County Sheriff’s Office of Professional Standards in South Carolina is conducting an internal review of the agency’s response. (Google Maps)
The affidavits describe the children as approximately 1½ and 2½ years old at the time of their deaths.
Investigators accused May of showing “extreme indifference for human life” by failing to provide her children with basic sustenance, which they alleged was a “main contributor to their death.”
Separate arrest warrants were issued for each child, charging May with homicide by child abuse under South Carolina law.
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A stock image of police emergency lights. The Charleston County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the deaths of two young girls whose mother, Justine Marie May, faces two counts of homicide by child abuse. (iStock)
The Charleston County Sheriff’s Office said deputies had made separate contact with May and the children twice in August and three times in September and reported seeing no obvious signs of concern during those encounters, according to published reports.
Their last reported visit while the children were alive was Sept. 20.
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The Charleston County Sheriff’s Office of Professional Standards is conducting an internal review of the agency’s response, while the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division’s Special Victims Unit and the Department of Child Fatalities are assisting in the investigation, according to published reports.
May was booked into the Charleston County jail on Sept. 29 and remained in custody as of Friday, according to online jail records reviewed by Fox News Digital. The records list two homicide by child abuse charges.