A Kentucky mother charged with fatally shooting her two young sons allegedly told police it was an “accident”.
Tiffanie Lucas, 32, is facing two murder charges over the deaths of her nine-year-old Jayden Howard and six-year-old Maurice ‘Peanut’ Baker Jr on 8 November.
She is accused of shooting the boys in the head at the family’s home in Shepherdsville at around 11am.
Ms Lucas faced a preliminary hearing on 14 November, where Bullitt County Detective Richard Beahl testified about his interview with the mother after the children were found dead.
Det Beahl said when he asked Ms Lucas if she meant to hurt her children, “she indicated that it was an accident”.
She allegedly told him: “I’m in such a bad spot,” “I’m so stupid,” and “I would never do anything like this unless someone manipulated me.”
Det Beahl explained that Ms Lucas claimed she was manipulated into carrying out the killings “through Facebook, through the internet or through WiFi”.
After the killings, Ms Lucas ran out of her home and collapsed in a neighbour’s driveway, saying her “kids were dying”, according to a criminal complaint.
Nine-year-old Jayden Howard (left) and six-year-old Maurice Baker Jr (right) were allegedly shot dead by their mother Tiffanie Lucas— (Handout)
The neighbour then went to the home and found the children dead in a bedroom.
Four shots were fired in total, the criminal complaint states.
The preliminary hearing ended with District Court Judge Jennifer Porter finding probable cause to send the case to a grand jury for indictment.
According to WLKY, Bullitt County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Col. Alex Payne said officials “did all we could”, when responding to the tragedy.
“Whether you think it’s mental illness, just pure evil, a combination of both, it could be substance abuse, any combination thereof. Pick your poison. None of it’s good. The result is horrific,” Mr Payne said.
The mother had previously spent a month in jail for drug possession, according to the TV station.
The children are reportedly half-brothers. The father of one of the sons is deceased, the official said, while the whereabouts for the other father are unknown. Officials alerted other family members about the incident.
Durrell Howard, an older brother of the boys, told WLKY he had raised alarm about Ms Lucas to child protective services in the past.
“We wanted them. We would have taken them with open arms. We loved them so much,” he said. “I should have done more. If it came to me snatching the boys out of the house, I should have, and I will hold that on my back for the rest of my life — for both them boys.”
Ms Lucas is being held on $2m bond.
