Mom Described Her Daughter's Father as 'Loving.' Then She Went to Beauty Store and Returned to Find Them Dead

A Missouri mother is mourning her infant daughter who was killed by the child’s father in what authorities say was a murder-suicide.

Nine-month-old Ophelia Lawery-Daniels and her father Zacchaeus Daniels died in the St. Louis, Mo., incident on Feb. 28, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police said in a statement.

Officers responding to a shooting found Ophelia and Daniels, 21, suffering from gunshot wounds, police said in their statement.

Daniels was pronounced dead at the scene; Ophelia was pronounced dead after being taken to a hospital.

St. Louis police have since determined he killed Ophelia before turning the gun on himself.

Ophelia’s mother, Micah Lawery, told KSDK she had left Ophelia with Daniels on the evening of Feb. 28, to go to a beauty store.

When she returned home and, seemingly by instinct, switched on her flashlight, she found their bodies on the couch.

"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 told the outlet.

She now says the image is “burned into [her] brain.”

In a GoFundMe set up to assist Micah and her family with needs such as cleaning services and meals, the infant is being remembered for being "vibrant, happy, deeply loved."

"In her short nine months she quickly stole the hearts of her uncles, aunties, grandma, and everyone who met her," read part of the fundraiser. "May her love for Ms. Rachel and Reese’s peanut butter cups always live on."

"She was a feisty, very sassy baby, and she had such a big personality," Micah told KSDK.

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Meanwhile, the grieving mother says Daniels was a “good father” and “loving partner” who struggled with mental illness. He did not have a history of violence, she said.

"I try not to paint him in a bad light," Lawery told KSDK, adding that, "As a father, [he tried] his best and doing everything he can to be a good father."

Micah now plans to use the tragedy to raise awareness about mental illness, especially in men.

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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