Photo: GoFundMe
A Missouri mother is mourning the loss of her nine-month-old daughter who was killed by her father in an apparent murder-suicide.
According to PEOPLE, nine-month-old Ophelia Lawery-Daniels was shot by her father, 21-year-old Zacchaeus Daniels, who later turned the gun on himself, in St. Louis, Missouri on February 28.
Authorities said they responded to the shooting and found Ophelia and Daniels suffering from gunshot wounds. Daniels was pronounced dead on the scene, while Ophelia was taken to a hospital, where she was later pronounced deceased.
St. Louis police determined the incident was a murder-suicide.
Ophelia's mother, Micah Lawery, said she had left the child with her father to go to the beauty store. The mother recalled coming back home and turning on her flashlight to find her nine-month-old daughter dead.
"I don't know. It's like something came over me to turn on my cell phone flashlight, and that's when I saw the scene," she said, noting the image is “burned into [her] brain.”
A GoFundMe was launched to assist the family in the wake of Ophelia's and Daniel's deaths.
"She was a feisty, very sassy baby, and she had such a big personality," Lawery said.
The grieving mother noted that Daniels was a "good father" who struggled with mental illness.
"I try not to paint him in a bad light," Lawery said. "As a father, [he tried] his best and doing everything he can to be a good father."
If you or someone you know needs mental health help, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.
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