A teenage girl saved her young sister's life after their mother, who had just killed a third sibling, tried to drown her, according to police.
The South Carolina Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner praised the 16-year-old for her courage and reflected on the crime at a press conference.
The incident occurred on May 19 at around 1:30 a.m. at an address on Sam Doyle Drive, Saint Helena Island.
The now-arrested mother, Jamie Michele Bradley-Brun, allegedly drowned and killed her 6-year-old daughter in the bathroom before attempting to drown her 8-year-old daughter.
When police arrived at the home, Bradley-Brun was arrested. She remains incarcerated at the Beaufort County Detention Center and is charged with murder and attempted murder.
Upon hearing the screams of the 8-year-old, Bradley-Brun's 16-year-old daughter rushed into the room and wrestled her away from her mother and took her to a nearby family member's home before calling police, according to an ABC4 report.
In a press release shared on Facebook, the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office confirmed the identity of the deceased 6-year-old as Mackaya Bradley-Brun. An autopsy has been confirmed and was set to take place on May 19.
Speaking about crime during a press conference, Tannersaid: "Typically, mothers do not kill their children, this is not a typical situation.
"As we conducted a protective sweep we found a six-year-old victim in the home deceased."
Without going into a potential motive, Tanner also said "he knows what happened" and deemed the entire situation "horrific."
He added: "I'm not a mental health expert. It's not my job to determine if someone has a mental health problem.
"There is a lot more information that we have and a lot more details that we know but at this point we can't share."
Speaking on the 16-year-old's actions, he said: "This 16-year-old, very proud of her, I think she did an unbelievable job. She defended her family when no one else was available to do so, until we got there. Again, her courage is amazing."
Newsweek has contacted the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office via email for comment.
Child abuse in the U.S. is somewhat "common" according to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) as 1 in 7 children have experienced child abuse or neglect in the past year.
A CDC report stated that this statistic is likely an underestimate due to the fact many instances of abuse go unreported. The report added: "In 2020, 1,750 children died of abuse and neglect in the United States."
Regarding the consequences of abuse, the CDC stated that those that suffer from it can suffer "immediate physical injuries as well as emotional and psychological problems."
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Gerrard Kaonga is a Newsweek U.S. News Reporter and is based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on U.S. ... Read more
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