A 32-year-old American woman accused of fatally shooting her two sons has claimed she was manipulated “via Facebook” before the brutal murder. According to Newsweek, the woman, identified as Tiffanie Ann Katherine Lucas, has been charged with the murder of her two sons, 6-year-old Maurice Baker Jr. and 9-year-old Jayden Howard. The boys died in hospital on November 8 after they were reportedly found bleeding next to a gun in their family home in Kentucky. The judge declared Ms. Lucas a danger to others and set her bond at $2 million the next day.
On Tuesday, during a court appearance, Bullitt County Sheriff’s Detective Richard Beahl took the stand and shared details from his interview with the 32-year-old when she was questioned last week. According to NewsweekMr. Beahl revealed that both boys were shot in the head and that four shots were fired in about 30 seconds. He said Ms Lucas claimed the shooting was an “accident”. She also stated that she must have been “manipulated”.
“I asked Mrs. Lucas if she wanted to hurt her children. She indicated it was an accident,” Beahl told the court. She was in “such a bad place,” she told investigators. “I’m so stupid,” she said, adding that she would “never do something like that unless someone was manipulating me.”
Ms. Lucas alleged that “she was manipulated through Facebook, through the Internet or through WiFi, and was manipulated into doing what she did,” Mr. Beahl said.
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According to Fox connected WDRBHowever, Maurice Baker Jr.’s stepmother, Michelle Rice, rejected the idea of manipulation. “No one can manipulate you into doing something so heinous. No one can manipulate you into doing that. That’s you,” she said.
Ms. Rice also described the scene in the courtroom as Ms. Lucas watched the testimony. “She showed no emotion… She shows no emotion,” she said.
On November 8, a neighbor called police after discovering the injured boys in a bedroom of their home, next to a gun on the bed. The neighbor told officials he was returning home when he saw Ms. Lucas “collapsed” in his driveway. “When he approached her, she told him her ‘children were dying,’” the detective told the court, adding that the neighbor ran in to try to “save” the boys.
The boys were rushed to a nearby hospital but succumbed to their injuries a few hours later, officials said.