Mother charged in child’s death describes hours before as ‘dream,’ police say
A Sandy Springs mother told police she never intended to kill her daughter, describing the moments before the 11-year-old’s death as feeling like “a dream,” a detective testified in a Fulton County courtroom Wednesday.
Shannen Grimes, 52, faces several charges, including murder and felony murder, in the Nov. 15 killing of Genesis Grimes. The girl had been stabbed at least four times and was found cleaned and propped in a living room recliner with a blanket and Bible devotional placed in her lap, according to police. The mother had also injured herself, officials said.
On Wednesday, Shannen Grimes waived her right to be present for her preliminary hearing in Fulton County Magistrate Court. During the procedural hearing, Judge Todd Ashley heard the initial evidence against her and determined there was enough to allow the case to advance for grand jury consideration.
A motive for the crime remains murky, but testimony revealed new details about what investigators said led up to their shocking discovery inside Grimes’ home in the Laurel Grove Condominiums. The mother told police she had grown “fearful and paranoid” following a bizarre visit to her elderly father in New Jersey, Sandy Springs police detective Isaiah Tomlin told the court.
The father, who had been hospitalized for an unspecified reason, made strange, concerning statements to the family, according to Tomlin. The validity of those statements was unclear, but it made Grimes afraid someone was out to hurt her and her daughter in order to “get to his money or resources,” the detective said.
The family had just returned home the day before Genesis was killed, Tomlin said. At 10:46 a.m. the next day, Grimes sent an alarming text to her sister, he said. In the text, which Tomlin read during the hearing, Grimes said she attempted to take her own life and referenced her daughter.
“If they are harming girls, they cannot have Gen,” read the message, according to Tomlin.
“My beautiful, talented angel can sing her whistle tone in heaven,” the text continued.
Grimes’ sister immediately called 911, and officers were at the Carpenter Drive home within minutes.
Grimes was taken to a hospital and interviewed by investigators following her release. She described the hours before police arrived as “being like ‘a dream,’” Tomlin said.
“She believed that if she killed herself, that she and Genesis would both wake up, basically, like a bad dream,” he said.
He added that Grimes went on to say, “I never intended to kill my daughter.”
According to Tomlin, the girl had defensive wounds on her hands, including a deep cut around the base of her right thumb. Blood was found throughout the house and was concentrated in Grimes’ bedroom, which is where she told police that Genesis fell asleep, the detective said.
Genesis appeared to have been cleaned before being placed in the recliner, which was situated next to a couch where Grimes was lying when officers arrived.
Grimes also faces one count of tampering with evidence, first-degree cruelty to children and possession of a weapon during the commission of a felony. Her case now hangs on whether a grand jury will indict her.
Editor’s note: If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org.
