A 61-year-old Missouri woman, Linda Hayden, is facing charges of first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the deaths of her boyfriend, Henry Williams, a former fire chief, and his 15-year-old daughter, Ha’layna Elliot. Hayden is accused of shooting both victims before allegedly telling police that the man she killed was a “bad man and a narcissist.”
The incident occurred on Saturday evening when Ferguson police responded to a call around 6:15 p.m. from family members who found Williams and Ha’layna dead in their home on the 500 block of North Clay Avenue. According to a criminal complaint, Williams was shot in the back of the head, and Ha’layna was shot in the forehead.
Upon arrival, officers found Hayden locked in a bedroom and took her into custody. A .38 revolver with two spent casings was discovered in the room. Hayden reportedly made a spontaneous statement to police, saying, “I guess I’m the villain in the story, and he was a bad man and a narcissist,” detectives noted.
While investigators have not disclosed a motive, it was revealed that Hayden, Williams, and Ha’layna all lived together in the home. Hayden is being held at the St. Louis County Justice Centre on a $2 million bond, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Williams had served as the fire chief of Berkeley, a small city in the St. Louis area, from 2003 until his retirement. Ha’layna, a sophomore at Pattonville High School, was a promising basketball player. Her teammate, Jael Williams, fondly remembered Ha’layna’s skills on the court: “Every time she shot the ball, we all watched, and it went in every time.”
Williams, in his retirement, spent time coaching his daughter and her teammates. Jael Williams spoke about how Williams had helped her with her shooting skills: “When we were practicing shooting and all the girls were making it and my shooting was horrible, he pulled me to the side, and he taught me how to shoot.”
Hayden’s next court appearance is scheduled for March 2.
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