An Osyka woman shot her two daughters, ages 17 and 7, and then turned the gun on herself Monday morning, authorities said.
Pike County Chief Investigator Chris Bell said Shequita Stanciel, Fifth Street, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest.
Bell said Stanciel also shot her 7-year-old daughter in the stomach and the 17-year-old in the chest around 10 a.m.
The teen was admitted to Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center, and the 7-year-old was transported to the University of Mississippi Medical Center and will undergo surgery.
Bell said deputies responded to a call from a mother stating that she shot her two daughters, 17 and 7, around 10 a.m.
He said when deputies arrived at the residence in Osyka, they were met by Osyka Police Chief Brian Mullins, who was exiting the house carrying 7-year-old.
Mullins told deputies the girl suffered a single gunshot wound to the stomach.
The teenager ran from the residence to a neighbor’s house, and the neighbor made a second call to 911 reporting that she had been shot.
Bell said AAA ambulance service arrived and took the 17-year-old to Southwest Regional.
Detective KeyAnna Martin and Deputy Brandi DeMoll took the 7-year-old to Martin’s vehicle and waited for another AAA ambulance to arrive. The two kept talking to the child, who was in and out of consciousness until the ambulance arrived.
Once the residence was cleared and secured, deputies found Stanciel in her bedroom, laying upright in the bed with a gunshot wound to the chest.
Bell said officers found multiple shell casings and live rounds throughout the residence.
Pike County detectives, Mullins, Osyka police officer Felder Smith and an investigator with the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation began investigating what led to the shooting.
An MBI investigator spoke with 17-year-old, who confirmed investigators’ belief that Stanciel attempted a murder-suicide.
Bell said Stanciel asked the children to stay home from school with her. Bell said the girls were in the 17-year-old’s room when Stanciel shot both of them.
He said both girls ran to the locked back door of the residence to get away from their mother. Then the 17-year-old ran out the front door to a neighbor’s home, and the 7-year-old stayed inside the home where Mullins found her.
Bell said Stanciel left a suicide note on the dresser next to the bed, in which Stanciel said she couldn’t do this anymore.
He said Stanciel and her boyfriend of seven years had recently separated, and in the note she prayed on it for several days. Bell said Stanciel may have been diagnosed with depression.
Sheriff Kenny Cotton and Chief Deputy Johnny Scott also came down to assist in the investigation and to comfort the family.
“It took a toll on our deputies and even myself. I became emotional as well,” said Bell, who has children of his own.
He said the department as a whole took the incident hard.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to family and two daughters. We know that sometimes good people make bad decisions,” Bell said. “We’re asking the community to keep family in their prayers. It’s going to take help of community, family, church and schools to help the girls heal after the tragedy they’ve went through.
“No one should question why this happened. We should all be there for the girls.”
