Justine Marie May, 31, waived her right to a bond hearing Wednesday and remains jailed after being charged with two counts of homicide by child abuse.
The Ladson, South Carolina, mother was arrested Tuesday when officers responding to a welfare call found her daughters — 1-year-old Harlow and 2-year-old Emory Deacon — dead inside her home outside Charleston. May told investigators the previous two weeks had been a “blur” and admitted she could not remember when she last fed or gave the girls anything to drink, according to an affidavit obtained by WCIV.
The children’s father, Zachary Deacon, had spent weeks sounding alarms about May’s behavior and the girls’ welfare. In text messages May later posted to Facebook, Deacon wrote: “This is not harassment. I am genuinely terrified for the kids,” He continued: “Are you going to hurt one of the kids to get back at me?”
May shared screenshots of her exchanges with Deacon on her Facebook page in the weeks before the girls died, the Post and Courier reported. In a Sept. 9 Facebook post, she complained about repeated welfare checks triggered by Deacon’s calls to police. “Of course, they found absolutely nothing wrong because I am an amazing mom,” she wrote.
Other relatives shared similar fears. A female family member emailed May in early September referencing the Lindsay Clancy murder trial in Massachusetts, where Clancy faced charges in the deaths of her three children. “Lindsay Clancy is on trial right now for killing her 3 children!” the relative wrote. “This has been the fresh hell your family has been living every day that you don’t communicate or let us see the girls.”
The email continued with increasingly stark language about May’s mental state: “Would Justine do this? No. Would this dark entity that is behind Justine’s eyes do this? This haunts my worst nightmares.”
May pushed back publicly against the mounting concern. In a Sept. 13 Facebook post responding to another relative’s message about her “unhinged” social media presence, she wrote: “I am perfectly capable of deciding who is best for my children. And they are having the time of their life wit [sic] people who have always wanted to be around them wit [sic] me begging for it.”
Law enforcement had multiple opportunities to intervene. Deputies made contact with May and the children twice in August and three times in September, authorities said, but noted no obvious signs of concern on any of those visits. Officers last visited the property while the girls were still alive on Sept. 20.
When police arrived for the final welfare check Tuesday, May emerged from the house and “began crying and speaking incoherently,” the affidavit states. Harlow and Emory’s bodies were found inside, “obviously deceased.”
May told officers she believed the children died because they did not eat. She also said she had been the sole caregiver present in the home for the previous two weeks, according to the affidavit. The causes of death were determined to be starvation and dehydration due to neglect.
The affidavit offered a stark assessment of May’s conduct: “[May] unequivocally demonstrated an extreme indifference for human life in that she failed to provide both of her own children, according to her, with the basic sustenance to maintain life thus being a main contributor to their death.”
Deacon’s attorney, Gedney M. Howe IV, told Live 5 News on Thursday: “We believe these deaths could and should have been prevented,” Howe added: “Neighbors, friends, and family all called trying to get help for these girls, and no one listened. Zack was sounding the alarm and was arrested for it.”
The Charleston County Sheriff’s Office of Professional Standards has launched an internal review into the department’s response. The South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division’s Special Victims Unit and the Department of Child Fatalities are also assisting in the investigation.
May’s next court appearance is scheduled for Nov. 20.