After a surprise visit from a social worker who determined it was better for the children to be removed from the home, a Texas woman killed three of her children and seriously injured two more.
Shamaiya Hall, 25, was charged with three counts of capital murder after the stabbing death of her three children on Friday, March 3, in Italy, Texas, south of Dallas.
According to the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office, the woman is being held on a $2 million bond at the Wayne McCollum Detention Center for each charge.
The caseworker turned up unannounced at Hall’s home in south Dallas on Friday afternoon, accusing the mother of unsupervised visits with the children. Child Protective Services had previously taken away custody of all five children under the age of six and assigned guardianship to a close family member.
According to Deputy Jerry Cozby of the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office, the caseworker called them around 4 p.m. on Friday and asked them to pick up the children.
When officers arrived at the house, they discovered five stabbed children inside. A six-year-old boy and five-year-old twins, a girl and a boy, were among those killed at the scene. Officers also discovered a critically injured four-year-old boy and a one-year-old girl and transported them to nearby hospitals.
The Ellis County Sheriff’s Office will be assisted in its investigation by the Texas Rangers.
Hall was previously incarcerated after being convicted of property crimes and several assaults.