A South Carolina woman is facing charges after two young children were found dead inside her home during a welfare check, according to authorities. Justine Marie May, 31, was charged with two counts of homicide by child neglect, Charleston County Sheriff's Office (CCSO) Public Information Officer Alexis Douglas told Newsweek in an email Wednesday. While authorities have not yet publicly released the identities of the victims, family members told reporter Cody Alcorn of WXIA in Atlanta that the girls were named Emory and Harlow, both under age 3.
The children were found Tuesday in a home on Pinewood Drive in Ladson, about 20 miles northwest of Charleston. The allegations against May come as Massachusetts prosecutors continue pursuing charges against Lindsay Clancy, who is accused of strangling her three children in January 2023. Clancy's defense has argued that she was suffering from severe postpartum mental illness at the time of the deaths, while prosecutors contend she should be held criminally responsible.
Prosecutors in Illinois allege that Corie Walsh strangled her toddler and left him hanging from a basement rafter inside the family's Frankfort home on September 1. She has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder and has pleaded not guilty. Records reviewed by Newsweek show that May owned the Pinewood Drive home in Ladson where deputies discovered the bodies during a welfare check, along with a 35-year-old man who was listed as her husband.
Officials have also not released information about a possible motive. According to Alcorn, family members said they spent weeks trying to get help for May and her two daughters before the children were found dead. Relatives told Alcorn that May's behavior changed dramatically about 45 to 60 days ago after being "normal for over 30 years," prompting the family to contact the South Carolina Department of Social Services, request welfare checks and seek assistance from a mobile crisis unit.
The family told Alcorn that they feared their concerns were not taken seriously, saying: “None of it makes sense." They said relatives became alarmed after seeing a photo that allegedly showed the younger child, Harlow, suffering from a severe rash, and that May stopped communicating with family members about a month before the deaths. Family members also said that May's mother emailed the local police chief with concerns one day before the girls were discovered dead, raising questions about what authorities knew and what actions were taken before the children died. Authorities told Newsweek that they were not yet releasing the charging documents, but news website FITSNews in South Carolina reported that the probable cause affidavit says May told investigators she had been in a "blur" for the previous two weeks and could not remember the last time she fed her two daughters or gave them anything to drink.
The affidavit said that May allegedly told detectives she believed the children died because they had not eaten and acknowledged that failing to feed them was neglectful. FITSNews reported that May said she had been the girls' sole caregiver and that no one else had been at the home in the weeks before their deaths. The affidavit also reportedly states that deputies responding to a welfare check on September 29 were familiar with the residence because of previous welfare-check calls.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
