Two ladies died in what officials say to be an apparent murder-suicide outside Highland Community Hospital in Picayune, Mississippi. Thursday 26 Sep. 2024 at about 2:53 p.m., law officers answered an emergency call regarding a violent dispute in a car parked close to the emergency room entrance of the hospital.
Local accounts state that a 61-year-old woman later identified as Helena Malone made a distress call alerting authorities to having just shot her 79-year-old mother, Helen Plaisance. The matter got more bad when Malone turned the gun on herself as law enforcement got to the site. Quickly, emergency responders drove both women to the hospital where they were declared dead.
According to preliminary results, Malone had been dealing with serious medical issues including a malignant brain tumour left untreated. Sharing observations with local media, Pearl River County Coroner Derek Turnage suggested that Malone’s cognitive condition had been much changed by the course of the tumour. The medical problem, which had gone untreated since June, most certainly had a role in the violence on that terrible day increasing.
Authorities have started a thorough probe on the events around the incident. Law police and hospital personnel have encouraged the community to send prayers and ideas to the impacted family as well as those first responders engaged. Officials still exhange care as the inquiry is under way since the emotional toll on the family and those who saw the tragedy remains great.
As the investigation goes on, further updates are expected; still, the sad nature of this occurrence has left many in the society struggling with shock and grief.
