A 16-year-old South Carolina girl is being hailed as a hero after she saved her young sister from their mother, who had just drowned another sister.
The teen was awakened just before 1:30 a.m. Friday by her 8-year-old sister’s screams coming from the bathroom in a home on Saint Helena Island, the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office said.
The girls’ mother, 37-year-old Jamie Bradley-Brun, had apparently just drowned their 6-year-old sister and was trying to do the same to the 8-year-old. The 16-year-old wrested the girl away and ran with her to a nearby family member’s house to call for help.
Police responded to a report “that there was a woman who was trying to drown her child,” authorities said in a statement. Eight minutes later, they arrived to find Bradley-Brun with the young girl, who could not be revived. Deputies had to tase Bradley-Brun, who tried to grab one of their guns as she was arrested, Tanner said.
“Deputies conducted a sweep of the home and located 6-year-old Mackaya Bradley-Brun, who was deceased,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement. “The early morning investigation revealed that Jamie Michele Bradley-Brun most likely drowned the 6-year-old. Following that Bradley-Brun then attempted to drown an 8-year-old child. A plea for help from the 8-year-old woke others in the home who were able to intervene and call 911 for help.”
Authorities said the teen’s actions were nothing short of heroic.
“I’m very proud of her,” Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner said at a news conference. “I think she did an unbelievable job. She defended her family when no one else was available. Her courage is amazing.”
Bradley-Brun was charged with murder and attempted murder and held without bond.
The girls were being cared for by other family members, Tanner said.
Tanner did not reveal a motive. Brun had never been arrested in South Carolina, and only once had authorities been called to the house — two years ago, when a school employee expressed concern about a child’s mental state, according to Tanner.
“There is a lot more information that we have and a lot more details that we know but at this point we can’t share,” Tanner said, adding that he had no idea what could prompt someone to want to kill their children. “I’m not a mental health expert. It’s not my job to determine if someone has a mental health problem.”