DeKalb County authorities have released the names of the 45-year-old mother and her two children who were stabbed to death, allegedly by her 21-year-old son.
DeKalb medical examiner Patrick Bailey told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Monday that Sheila Irons and her 11-year-old son Zion McPherson and 8-year-old daughter Chastity McPherson died of multiple stab wounds.
Irons’ 17-year-old daughter, Candice McCoy, also was attacked at their Lithonia home but she escaped to a nearby house and called for help. She remains in critical condition at a local hospital.
When police arrived on Rockland Road around 8:45 p.m. Sunday, they almost immediately saw Irons’ oldest child, Eugene Quatron McCoy, walking away from the brick ranch house. He was taken into custody and then booked into the jail early Monday. McCoy is being held without bond on three counts of murder and one charge of aggravated assault.
While police have not announced a motive for the attack, court records show a history of domestic violence involving McCoy.
There was a restraining order to protect Irons and her children at the time they were killed.
Records show McCoy has been arrested five other times in DeKalb County, including twice on domestic violence charges.
Last May 26, McCoy showed up at his mother's house despite a court order than he was not allowed to have contact with her. He pleaded guilty to violating a temporary protective order and he was sentenced to 12 months probation and ordered again to have no contact with Irons.
McCoy, first arrested in 2007 on a burglary charge, pleaded guilty last Sept. 8 to disorderly conduct and was sentenced to 23 days of confinement and 12 months probation. According to court documents, Irons was in "reasonable fear of the safety of HER life, limb or health."
Then on Dec. 8, McCoy pleaded no contest to family violence battery, disorderly conduct and criminal trespass. According to court records, McCoy hit his sister, Candice, busting her lip, and broke her $500 cell phone. McCoy was ordered to have no more contact with his sister even though they lived at the same address. He also was sentenced to 14 days in jail and two years probation. Their brother, Zion, was listed as a witness.
McCoy then was ordered on Dec. 21 to undergo a mental health evaluation and to attend 12 anger management classes.
He was arrested less than three weeks later, on Jan. 8, after allegedly showing up at his mother's house and damaging her door. McCoy pleaded guilty to criminal trespass. He was sentenced to jail time but received credit for the 67 days he had already been incarcerated. McCoy was released on March 16, the day he entered the plea, to begin his court-ordered 12 months on probation.
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