Carulus Hines told a neighbor she would kill her children if the state tried to take them away. Monday, 9 days later, Hines killed her disabled 4-year-old daughter.
Tuesday, the state agency that handles cases of child abuse and neglect acknowledged it had a history with the Hines family, but would offer no further details.
"The department can confirm we had previous contact with this family," said a written statement from the state Division of Family and Children Services. "We are currently reviewing the case file to determine the extent of involvement."
After trying to choke her 8-year-old son, Hines covered the mouth of her daughter with tape and stabbed her to death. Hines, 40, died after police broke down the door and shot her repeatedly.
The Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office reported Tuesday that the girl, Nalecia, whom neighbors described as having Down syndrome, died of multiple stab wounds and asphyxiation. None of the bullets police fired at the mother had struck the girl, the coroner’s office said.
The 8-year-old and his uncle, who lived with the family, had summoned police from a neighbors’ house. The boy and his uncle – Hines’ brother, James Farmer -- told the neighbor that Hines had claimed to be God, capable of killing the boy and then bringing him back.
Hines’ problems were an open secret in her Carver Hills neighborhood. Neighbors said she spoke of being possessed by demons and could be heard calling out the name of Jesus and speaking in tongues behind her home.
“I knew she had some mental issues, I just didn’t know this was the extent,” said Miyoshi Hill, who manages the property.
Another woman said she had repeatedly seen Hines slap the children and even threaten their lives.
“She said that if they think they can take my kids, I will kill them first,” said Tyisha Jackson, who said the conversation took place on Nov. 19. Jackson said that when she asked about Hines' kids, the mother exploded, saying, "I'm tired of people asking about my kids."
"She had a lot of problems with her kids," Jackson said. "She couldn't feed them or clothe them. The kids always looked raggedy."
It's not clear what impelled Hines to attack the children with such ferocity, but financial pressures as well as delusions had piled up in recent weeks. She had not paid her $600-a-month rent for five months, and was being told to pay or leave the home she shared with her brother and the children. The water had been turned off, and the neighbor who had let the family borrow water was no longer willing.
The family's home was also in disarray, with clothes, trash and toys strewn around, said Hill, the property manager. "It was shocking to see how they had been living," she said. "It was almost like [the TV show] Hoarders."
But Hines also strove to live a normal life. As recently as July she boasted on her Facebook page about having made outstanding grades at the school where she was studying to work with medical records.
Hill, the property manager, said she let Hines stay even though the rent was overdue because she felt sorry for the woman and her children. When Hill told her she must leave a few weeks ago, Hines became angry and aggressive, she said.
Hines has a criminal record in Baltimore, where she lived previously, for drug possession. A longtime friend there, Bryan Jones, said she had struggled with heroin. Her husband is in prison in Maryland.
Jones said he spoke to Hines Sunday and she claimed to have just spoken to her parents, who are dead. She told him she was going home to be with them.
According to what Hines' brother, James Farmer, later related to Hill, Hines was acting erratic Monday and had a knife. When she started swinging the knife, Farmer tried to protect the children. When he ran next door to call for help, she threw her son out a window. He took the boy to the neighbor's, and when he went back to the home, the door was locked.
When police entered, Hines was holding her daughter in one arm and stabbing her with the other, according to Maj. Keith Meadows, commander of the major crimes section.
Police said that the large woman -- she was over six-foot-tall and about 300 pounds -- refused to put down the knife. The officers fired 10 to 16 shots.
Hill said she grieves for the children.
She said Nalecia would run up and hug her every time she visited. “She was very smart even though she was a Down’s syndrome child. She was very loving,” she said.
The son had been taught to feel responsible for his sister, she said. “Her brother really loved her [the little girl]. His mother told him to always look out for his little sister.”
After the deaths, she said, he told his uncle he had failed.
"I wish I could have done something,” she said. “She shouldn’t have been in the house anyway. I let her stay too long. I hurt for her child, her son, right now.”
Staff writers Katie Leslie and Alexis Stevens contributed to this article.
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