LADSON, SC (WCIV) — A woman who owns a home near where law enforcement found two deaths has been charged with two counts of homicide by child abuse, according to Charleston County court records.
Law enforcement placed Justine Marie, May 31, in custody on September 29, and she waived her appearance on bail on Wednesday, September 30. A first court appearance is currently scheduled for November 20. She will remain in detention for the time being.
The charge of homicide by child abuse carries a sentence of 20 years to life if convicted.
Charleston County law enforcement was first called to the scene on September 29 at approximately 1:17 p.m. in the 3200 block of Pinewood Drive for a welfare check. It was then that the police noticed two deaths.
READ MORE | “Authorities are investigating after two people were found dead during a welfare check in Ladson.”
Law enforcement then went door to door asking neighbors what they had seen or heard throughout the day. Shannon Green, a person who lives in the neighborhood, told News 4 the neighborhood is generally pretty quiet.
“We really didn’t see much,” she said. “I learned about the incident while scrolling through social media earlier. I looked out the back window and saw a bunch of blue lights.”
Another neighbor, a local pastor who has lived in the area for more than 40 years, says the family usually kept to themselves. He also said he never suspected anything violent was happening.
“It made me wonder if I had done everything I should have done,” said Bob Matthews, pastor of Heritage Holiness Church on Ladson Road. “It really devastated me, the thought of losing two precious little lives.”
He continued: “It actually made me nauseous to think that someone could take a life. We’re just a nice neighborhood. And for that to happen, it just took my life.”
Justine Marie May’s social networks
On social media, May frequently posted rants about her family, including private text messages in which she claimed the South Carolina Department of Human Services was called to her door “every week” with “people in mental health crisis.”
“I just find it laughable that they all claim to know what’s happening to me when they literally don’t,” May wrote on social media on September 13. “They’re all upset that I interrupted them for harassing me. And I’ll continue if I feel the need to.”
In that same post, she claims her mother called the police and told them, “I am Nyx, the goddess of the night.”
The page is full of photos of her and babies.
A screenshot of Justine May’s Facebook page.
News 4 has submitted multiple public records requests to learn more.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division’s Child Fatality Special Victims Unit is assisting the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office in the investigation, SLED officials confirmed. The department investigates deaths of children under the age of 18 resulting from violence, occurring in suspicious or unusual circumstances, or that are unexpected or unexplained.
In 2024, the latest year for which data is available, the Department of Child Deaths investigated a total of 328 child deaths and opened 326 child death cases. The unit also investigated 25 allegations of child abuse or neglect during that time.
The Charleston County Coroner’s Office has not released the names and ages of those found dead.
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