Mother stabs her 5 children killing 3 less than 2 years after twin sister kills own daughter
Less than two years after her mentally troubled twin sister stabbed her 7-year-old daughter to death, a 25-year-old mother from Italy, Texas, allegedly stabbed her five young children, killing three of them last Friday.
The mother, Shamaiya Deyonshana Hall, has since been arrested and charged with three counts of capital murder and is in custody with bail set at a collective $6 million.
A press release from the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office said an investigator with Texas Child Protective Services visited Hall’s home last Friday and decided to remove the children.
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The Ellis County Sheriff’s office was contacted at approximately 4 p.m. but five minutes later, at 4:05 p.m., officers with the Italy Police Department were shocked by what they found when they arrived on the scene.
They discovered a 6-year-old boy and his 5-year-old twin siblings — a boy and a girl — dead. Two other children, a 4-year-old boy and his 13-month-old sister, are still alive and were transported to Children’s Hospital Dallas in critical condition.
“We ask for you to keep the family, the community of Italy, and first responders in your thoughts and prayers during this tragic time,” the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office said.
The Italy Police Department also offered prayers for the family and friends of the victims in a statement on Facebook Saturday night.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims, family, and friends of those who were touched by the tragic events that unfolded yesterday afternoon, as well as all the first responders, and investigators who worked the scene,” the department said.
In June 2021, Hall’s twin sister, Troyshaye Hall, confessed to stabbing a 16-year-old family friend and killing her 7-year-old daughter, who she claimed was being sexually molested, Fox 4 reported. She was later found incompetent to stand trial and is in custody at the North Texas State Hospital.
Authorities say her daughter, Madison Petry, was stabbed more than 30 times.
An off-duty officer who lived next door to the family tried saving Petry’s life by driving her to a nearby fire station but she succumbed to her wounds.
"He’s the one who took it upon himself to cover her up and put her in the car because he had to get her to somewhere," eyewitness Frank Turner told Fox 4. "He was trying to save her life."
Neighbors said at the time of Troyshaye Hall’s stabbing attack that she had just returned home from a psychiatric facility. She told officers after her arrest that her daughter was being sexually abused but it was unclear if those claims were eventually verified.
"It’s just shocking because I know they say the devil is alive," Turner noted at the time. "I think he is."
Police have not yet publicly identified Shamaiya Hall’s children but Rachel L. Kistner, superintendent of the Italy Independent School District in which her oldest child was a student, said the school community was deeply affected by the murders.
“Italy ISD is deeply saddened by the tragedy that occurred off-campus this evening. Words cannot express the overwhelming grief felt by the district and the community hearing of such a tragedy,” she said in a statement Friday. “We are a tight-knit, small community and as such many students will be impacted by this incident.”
Kistner further noted that as they worked to support students and staff through the tragedy they would provide additional school counselors as well as support at the main campus of Central Baptist Church.
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