A Dayton, Ohio, woman is facing felony charges as two of her young children remain in critical condition with life-threatening injuries after she allegedly shot them in the head.
According to WXIX, an eight-year-old girl and a six-year-old boy are fighting for their lives at a Dayton hospital following the shooting that took place at their home. Another child, 11, was at home at the time but was reportedly unharmed.
Claudena Helton, was arrested and taken into custody on Thursday for two counts of felony assault.
Witnesses reportedly said that the mother was naked at the time of the incident, and brought the children into the front yard after the shooting.
“This appears to be an incident that just occurred at this residence. It’s an unfortunate incident anytime anyone is shot within our city, it’s an unfortunate incident. It’s definitely, It’s hard on a lot of us dealing with two children in this incident,” Major Eric Henderson with the Dayton Police Department told WXIX.
According to Dayton Daily News, the children were recently removed from public school in order to be homeschooled. Helton had previously faced allegations of domestic violence and child abuse.
In 2014, a then-five-year-old daughter of Helton’s told school officials that her mother had hit her with a belt. According to the newspaper, Montgomery County Children Service has an active case file for the mother, but it is unclear what the consequences were of the 2014 investigation.
Photo: Dayton Police Department