Atlanta police officers believe a three-year boy watched as his mother placed his two brothers, ages 1 and 2, in an oven and cooked them to death. Lamora Williams was arrested on two counts of first-degree murder and one count of cruelty to Children in the first degree.
Williams told officers she had left the three children with a cousin at 11 AM Friday morning. When she returned at 11:30 PM, she discovered the boys were dead. Police were unable to locate the cousin and saw no evidence indicating the cousin had ever been in the apartment.
The crime scene showed indications that the boys' bodies might have been there for a lengthy period of time.
The one thing that was certain was that one-year-old Ja'Karter Penn and his two-year-old brother, Ke-Younte Penn, were dead and that somehow, their older brother had been spared.
Mother showed father video of crime scene
The distraught mother called two people and provided them with video of the crime scene and also called 911, according to police. One call went to a friend, Neesa Smith. She told Smith the boys were dead. Another call went to the children's father, Jameel Penn, who was separated from Williams. Penn told local television reporters the scene was so gruesome that he could not describe what he saw and that he knew immediately his sons were dead.
She called 911 and told the story about leaving the boys with a cousin.
She said a stove had fallen on one child and the other one was also dead. It took several minutes for the dispatcher to get Williams to give her the address and then police and fire department were sent to the apartment. It wasn't long after the mother called that the dispatcher received a call from Jamil Penn, who said he was afraid his sons were dead.
Mother held without bond after waiving hearing
Though official results of the autopsy have not been released, the police arrest warrant says Lamora Williams put Ja'Karter and Ke-Younte in the oven and turned it on. Neighbors saw police officers removing the oven from Williams' apartment and taking it as evidence Saturday morning
Williams waived her initial hearing Monday morning and was ordered held without bond as she awaits trial.
Williams' mother told reporters her daughter had a long history of mental problems, though there had never been any indication she was capable of committing the kind of crime that had her behind bars. A public funeral will be held for the boys Saturday, October 21, at 11 AM at the West Hunter Street Baptist Church. A local funeral home has donated its services.
