The girl found dead in Jefferson County was full of life

“She was kind of a tomboy and a girl at the same time,” family friend Kat Thornton of Festus said Wednesday. “She was so full of life. She loved everyone.”

Family and friends of the nine-year-old girl were shocked by the news that Scarlet and her little brother, two-year-old Isaac, were killed on Tuesday.

According to police, the children’s mother, Ashley Parmeley, 36, drowned Isaac in De Soto and shot Scarlet in St. Francois County. The children lived with their mother in Pevely.

The police have not yet determined a motive.

Parmeley turned himself in to the Festus Police Department around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, before police even knew about the deaths.

She drove to the station in a vehicle containing Scarlet’s body. She entered the police station lobby, wet and disheveled, and confessed to killing her children, police said. She then led police to Isaac, whose body was found in a pool of a fountain at a resort about 13 miles away.

Thornton described the situation as “tragic” and said Scarlet was “a good big sister to Isaac. She always hugged me and said, ‘I love you.'”

Parmeley is charged with second-degree murder in connection with the drowning of her son. She is being held without bail in the Jefferson County Jail.

Police said Scarlet was shot in St. Francois County, so investigators presented evidence to the district attorney there Wednesday afternoon. Murder charges in Scarlet’s death are expected soon.

Detectives in Jefferson County are currently examining evidence, including surveillance camera footage and cell phone information, in hopes of reconstructing the mother’s movements on Tuesday.

In Crystal City, Scarlet’s softball team, the Pink Flamingos, will play a regular-season game Wednesday night in honor of Scarlet. Other Twin City Little League games have been canceled due to the deaths.

“I think it’s best if they stay together,” Flamingos head coach Tracy Svejkosky said.

The all-girls minor league team, made up of 9- and 10-year-olds, will gather at the pitcher’s mound, release pink balloons and then chant “Play Ball” in unison, Svejkosky said.

Svejkosky also has a daughter on the team. She said the deaths are incomprehensible even to adults and it’s hard to know what to say to a child. She said she told her daughter Scarlet was in heaven after a tragic accident.

But the children likely heard about the killings through television and social media, both Svejkosky and Thornton said.

A teacher who taught Scarlet in first grade, as well as some of the other third-grade players, will be at the game to comfort any girls who need comforting.

Scarlet just finished third grade at Festus Elementary School. The last day of school was Friday.

Scarlet was new to the Flamingos this season. Players rotate positions to ensure playing time and find out what they are best at. Scarlet’s father, Jason Daugherty, had arranged for Scarlet to get pitching lessons during the offseason, Svejkosky said.

Daugherty was heavily involved in his daughter’s sport, Svejkosky said. The girl’s mother came to the first practice but not to the games, Svejkosky said.

Svejkosky said she learned of the murders when Daugherty called her.

“He said Scarlet wouldn’t be at the game, she loved softball, but unfortunately she wouldn’t be coming back,” Daugherty told the coach. Then he said, “Her mother murdered her.”

The father said the mother was unstable, Svejkosky recalled, but said he had failed to get the “system” to listen to him.

Authorities have not said whether anyone close to the children has asked the court to intervene in a custody battle, and police say there were no warning signs that the children were in danger.

“Law enforcement had no reason to believe there was a problem,” said Jefferson County Sheriff Dave Marshak. “Based on all investigative information received at the time, there was no indication that would have alerted law enforcement of a problem.”

Parmeley had no previous convictions.

According to court documents, Parmeley and Daugherty fought in court over custody of a child in 2015. A month later, Daugherty was ordered to pay $333 a month plus health insurance for the child.

Thornton said Scarlet often spent weekends with Daugherty at a house in the Festus area. Scarlet kept her dirt bike in a shed there. Daugherty was not Isaac’s father.

Svejkosky, the softball coach, said dealing with the deaths has been “pretty tough” for her and many others in the community.

“I think I’m numb,” she said, “and I just can’t understand it.”