A 31-year-old South Carolina woman has been charged with two counts of homicide by child abuse after police said they discovered two bodies inside her home during a welfare check.
Justine May was arrested Tuesday. According to reporting, officers went to a home in Ladson, South Carolina, on Tuesday afternoon and found the two bodies inside. The ages and identities of the victims have not been immediately confirmed. WCSC reported that the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) Department of Child Fatalities was at the scene and is assisting in the investigation.
Local news outlet The Post and Courier reported that May’s social media activity in the weeks before the discovery and her arrest suggested her family was worried about the welfare of her two daughters. The newspaper said May shared several screenshots on Facebook of messages from relatives, including one telling her that her posts made her “look unhinged.”
In September, one relative reportedly sent May a lengthy email asking whether she had been following the Lindsay Clancy trial, a reference to the Massachusetts mother who allegedly killed her three children with exercise bands. The relative also 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.”
May also reportedly posted screenshots of text messages with her ex-boyfriend, the father of her two children. In one exchange, he reportedly told her, “This is not harassment. I am genuinely terrified for the kids,” and “Are you going to hurt one of the kids to get back at me?”
In a Facebook post dated Sept. 9, May reportedly wrote, “The police have been to my door so much the past month because of him calling them for welfare checks that they just had to yesterday call him and tell him to stop abusing the system. I had DSS at my door because he called them and, of course, they found absolutely nothing wrong because I am an amazing mom.”
She reportedly responded to a family member’s messages in a Sept. 13 Facebook post that read, “I am perfectly capable of deciding who is best for my children. And they are having the time of their life with [sic] people who have always wanted to be around them with me begging for it.”
May waived her right to a bond hearing on Wednesday and remains in custody at the Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center. Her next court appearance is scheduled for Nov. 20.
The charges are allegations, and authorities have not yet released further details about the victims or the cause of death.