ATLANTA -- As a mother sits in jail facing charges in the deaths of her own toddlers, more questions are arising - not the least of them being how someone could do this.
Now, 11Alive is hearing from the family of 24-year-old Lamora Williams about what they described as a history of mental health problems.
Tabitha Hollingsworth said her sister battled with mental health most of her life and it became more and more serious in recent years. She said Williams refused medical help and wouldn’t admit to having a mental health problem. So, she has never been diagnosed with a particular illness.
In 2014, her father, who was a rock in her life, died. Hollingsworth said her sister recently had a miscarriage and then, several months ago, the father of her three boys left her.
All of that preceded the recent deaths of her two youngest children Ja’Karter and Ke’Yaunte – both of which were allegedly placed in the oven by Williams.
PHOTOS: Infants killed in Atlanta apartment
And when Hollingsworth said she saw her sister’s booking photo, it became clearer that the illness she had been fighting for so long had taken over – at least in that moment.
“That was a demonic spirit took over her, she looks possessed – that didn’t even look like her,” she said. “That mugshot, she looks evil, that you could tell there was a spirit on her.”
But she said it was a long road that led to that moment, culminating in tragic loss and depression.
“She was dealing with postpartum and then, if you just lost this baby, then you’re dealing with postpartum again – plus your mental health issue,” Hollingsworth said. “We were finding out she was taking pills. So you’re taking pills, have mental health issues – all that, all plays a role.”
She said her family is still in shock over the details of the tragedy.
MORE COVERAGE
► Mother charged in murder of infant boys
► Arrest warrant: Mother put children in oven, turned it on
► Neighbors, family: Mother of dead children would leave them alone often
► 911 calls describe horrific scene where children found dead
► Questions of crime reporting arise after toddlers' heartrending deaths
Neighbors said they knew Williams would often leave her children home alone and family said they did as much as they could, but Williams wouldn’t let them in.
Hollingsworth said she had serious safety concerns but assumed Williams would do something to herself – never to her children. In the past, they tried to intervene, she said, but Williams would push them away.
“With Lamora not wanting that help, not letting us come to visit her, not answering phone calls, not answering the door – people started [to] let us fall back,” she said. “We don’t want to overwhelm her and make her feel like we were going to come in and infiltrate and then trigger her off.”
Still, Hollingsworth said they tried to bring the Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) several times. 11Alive has reached out for documentation from DFCS about any previous interactions between them and the family. We will update with that information when we receive it.
Now, Hollingsworth and the rest of her family are focusing on making sure their remaining nephew – the only one to survive that horrible night – is taken care of.
