Police: Woman tried to kill her kids 7/30/2009 11:31 AM
By KAREN DAILY Staff writer
A North Augusta woman has been jailed on allegations she tried to kill her two children by running a garden hose from the exhaust pipe of her vehicle into the car while she and her two children were inside, according to reports.
Melissa J. Sawyers, 29, of Dove Avenue, is charged with two counts of administering poison or attempting to administer poison with the intent to kill her 10-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son Monday evening. The children did not require medical attention.
A witness who called police reportedly saw the victims in the vehicle and opened the doors to get the children out. They ran from the 2002 white Dodge Stratus screaming that their mother was going to kill them, police said.
The children told a North Augusta Public Safety investigator their mother had attached the hose to the car at their Dove Avenue home Monday evening and told them they "were going to heaven together and it would not hurt. They would just go to sleep and wake up in heaven together," according to a police incident report.
Sawyers then drove around for a while with the hose connected to the tail pipe and went to a Vireo Drive home where she began to make odd statements to a handful of people at the residence, saying she and the children would be leaving and would be watching over them after they were gone, according to incident reports.
When those witnesses saw the blue tape and garden hose they intervened, got the children out of the car and called police. Investigators said they found the electrical tape on the exhaust pipe of the vehicle and the garden hose in the front yard when they arrived.
Sawyers was arrested and taken to Aiken Regional Medical Centers for an evaluation. Police noted in the report that she was under the influence of alcohol but did not suspect any drug use. She was deemed fit for incarceration and then transported to the Aiken County detention center.
Contact Karen Daily at kdaily@aikenstandard.com.
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Comment Title:
I'll warm the tar, you get the feathers!
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Posted by: On: Friday, July 31, 2009 12:01 PM
Comment Title:
hear, hear!
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Posted by: On: Friday, July 31, 2009 11:56 AM
Comment Title:
I have known this person for 16 years and always knew that she was a couple of cards short.
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Posted by: On: Friday, July 31, 2009 8:31 AM
Comment Title:
To the tree I say!!!!
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Posted by: On: Friday, July 31, 2009 8:15 AM
Comment Title: k
Well Evidently she wasn't thinking of her kids only herself and the attention she wasn't getting. I say let SC give her the worst they can. The kids will still suffer for this for teh rest of theirs lives, instead of getting her help lets focus on her kids they are gonna be scarred for a long time. Think of them
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Posted by: On: Friday, July 31, 2009 5:47 AM
Comment Title: Why?
I have known this woman for several years and I never would have thought this is something she would do. She has been through alot in the past few years but I never thought she would try to hurt her kids. I hope she gets help but I also hope she is unable to see the kids with out supervision for a very long time.
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Posted by: K On: Thursday, July 30, 2009 5:41 PM
Comment Title: HELP?
I can't believe her husband's comments sound almost sympathetic. He wants to get her some HELP? How about a divorce and a restraining order instead? I am sorry, I have had some very hard times in the past, but killing my children and/or myself to resolve those problems has NEVER even crossed my mind. What kind of sicko does this and even tells those children what she is doing? How awful. Those kids will be traumatized for life. I hope she serves a life sentence. We need to send a clear message about the value of our children.
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Posted by: Someone who cares. On: Thursday, July 30, 2009 5:40 PM
Comment Title: ummm
This is redicously i have seen it all i cant believe someone would actually do this. This is a crying shame. This world is coming to an end just look at it. Cops are back stabbing their own families are crooked, crack heads runnin free, prostituion everywhere and all they do is pass them on the road and dont ever stop just ride on by, you would think the law would do something. But this right here is CRAZY its ppl like this that needs to pay the price for their actions. She needs a good a** woopin.
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Posted by: On: Thursday, July 30, 2009 5:09 PM
Comment Title:
Let us just hope she doesn't get out on bond or a slap on the wrist!
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Posted by: On: Thursday, July 30, 2009 3:17 PM
Comment Title: It's about time!
I have known this woman for at least 15 years and I am indirectly related. She finally went off of the deep end and she deserves the worst that the State of South Carolina can throw at her for this discraceful act.. This has been a long time coming. I am so grateful that the children are ok.
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Posted by: On: Thursday, July 30, 2009 2:10 PM
Comment Title:
Just say no to drugs.
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Posted by: me On: Thursday, July 30, 2009 1:22 PM
Comment Title: HAH!
Shes no mother.... stick her skank behind in jail and leave her there!!! Oh and get her a root job....
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Posted by: On: Thursday, July 30, 2009 10:51 AM
Comment Title:
The cops should stick that hose pipe in her tail pipe!
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