Mississippi Woman Killed in Her Home, Police Charge 14-Year-Old Daughter With Murder

A stock photo of police tape. Mark Makela/Getty Images

Police in Mississippi arrested a 14-year-old girl and her 12-year-old sister in connection with the death of their mother.

Erica Hall, 32, was found unresponsive in her front yard in Pike County on Jan. 4. She was pronounced dead on Jan. 7 at Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center, according to WDAM-TV.

She died from what appeared to be stab wounds and one gunshot wound, which came from a handgun, said Pike County Coroner Jason Jones.

Amariyona Hall, 14, is being charged as an adult with her mother’s murder and is being held in the Pike County Jail on $150,000 bond, said officials.

Her 12-year-old sister is being held in the Adams County Detention Center. Her name and charges were not released due to youth court proceedings, according to reports.

Pike County Sheriff‘s deputies “found out the daughters—two teenagers, juveniles—allegedly did it,” Sheriff Kenny Cotton told the Enterprise-Journal.

Cotton added that mental health evaluations will be carried out for both girls.

“They’re charged with murder and we’re going to apply the law,” Cotton told the publication.

He said they apparently attacked their mother after trying to run her over with the family car earlier in the week. The mother had reportedly punished the girls for that, which prompted the fatal attack, he said.

“With something like that, she should have made charges and had them arrested then,” Cotton said.

The incident took place in a home on 1088 Lawson Road in Magnolia, Mississippi. Google Street View

Elaborating further, the sheriff said it’s hard for him to comprehend why the girls carried out the alleged attack.

“I can’t imagine what’s going on inside their minds to process that,” he said. “A mom is a mom no matter what.”

Amariyona Hall is expected to return to court on Jan. 29.

The incident took place in a home on 1088 Lawson Road in Magnolia, Mississippi.

Crime Decreased in 2017

The FBI said that both violent crime and property crime decreased in 2017 compared to 2016. Overall violent crime decreased 0.2 percent from 2016 to last year, while property crime decreased 3 percent during that time, the agency said in September 2018, releasing data from the previous year. “There were more than 1.2 million violent crimes reported to UCR nationwide in 2017.

There was a 0.7 percent decrease in murders and a 4 percent decrease in robberies from 2016 to 2017. Aggravated assaults increased 1 percent in 2017. The FBI began collecting data solely on an updated rape definition last year, and 135,755 rapes were reported to law enforcement in 2017,” the FBI stated.