A mom in St. Louis returning home from a trip to a beauty store reportedly walked into her apartment to find her 9-month-old daughter and the baby’s father both dead in a “senseless” murder-suicide, according to police and loved ones.

“It’s not something I can unsee,” Micah Lawery, mother of Ophelia Lawery-Daniels, told local CBS affiliate KSDK last week about walking in and discovering her daughter’s lifeless body next to the child’s father, Zacchaeus Daniels, 21, after he took Ophelia’s life and his own on Feb. 28, according to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. Authorities announced Thursday that they were investigating the incident as a murder-suicide.

“Something that is burned into my brain,” Lawery said.  “I don’t need to close my eyes to see it.”

A mother in Hawaii is behind bars, along with her girlfriend, for allegedly starving and beating her 3-year-old daughter to death using belts, paddles, sticks and slippers to pound on the toddler — while also limiting her water intake to 8 ounces a day — along with her three of her siblings, ages 2 through 6, who managed to survive the “disturbing” abuse, according to police.

“First responders found Sarai malnourished and pulseless, with ashen skin and bruises to her legs, hips, arms, face, back and head,” explained Honolulu Police Department Lt. Deena Thoemmes at a press conference last Thursday after announcing the arrests of Janae Perez and Ashley Utley for the death of Perez’s daughter, Sarai Perez-Rivera, in June 2024, according to Hawaii News Now.

“Through the investigation, it was learned that Janae and Ashley limited Sarai and her siblings intake of water and food,” Thoemmes said. “Janae and Ashley did not allow them to eat often and only allowed them to drink 8 ounces of water a day.”

Two teenagers in South Carolina, ages 16 and 15, are facing murder charges for allegedly bludgeoning, stabbing and then burning a 13-year-old girl inside of a vacant house in what cops are calling a “gut-wrenching” killing that “shocks the conscious.”

“Brutal, heinous, vicious, gruesome, monstrous and disturbing. These are the words I’d use to describe this murder investigation,” said Columbia Police Chief William “Skip” Holbrook at a press conference Saturday.

Ka’Niyah Baker, the victim, was found dead in a “structure fire” at a vacant home on Cardamon Court in Columbia last Wednesday night, according to the Columbia Police Department. She had been reported missing on Jan. 12, with the last sighting of her being listed at a location roughly 20 miles away from where she was found.

“The manner of death was not an accident,” said Richland County Coroner Naida Rutherford at Saturday’s presser. “Ka’Niyah was bludgeoned, stabbed and burned.”

A stepfather in Arkansas allegedly murdered his wife’s 2-year-old son by repeatedly throwing him into a pool and pushing him underwater while his mom gave the OK, ultimately drowning the toddler in what the couple said was attempt to teach the boy how to swim, prosecutors say.

Dakota Shawn Hays, 29, and Annastacia Atkins, 24, of Van Buren, were arrested and charged this week with first-degree murder and other offenses in connection to the June 2024 death of Atkins’ son and for previous allegations of abuse that were uncovered during the death investigation, according to the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office and Crawford County Prosecuting Attorney. The couple was named in an arrest affidavit obtained by Law&Crime on Thursday that outlines how Atkins allegedly let Hays abuse her 2-year-old.

A group of young boys in Georgia, ages 12 to 15, are facing charges for allegedly dumping hot water on one of their “friends” in a sleepover prank gone wrong, according to police and the victim’s family.

“You got to be in shock to know your friends are capable of doing this to you,” the victim‘s aunt, Nachelle Austille, told local NBC and ABC affiliate WALB. “Like somebody you trusted. It’s just horrible. He never thought something like this would happen to him.”

Tiffany West, the victim’s mother, told the local station that her son, age 12, was at a sleepover at one of their neighbor’s apartments in Tifton — about 180 miles south of Atlanta — when his friends allegedly set upon him.  It’s unclear when the sleepover occurred as West is choosing to keep certain details private.

She says hearing about what happened to her son, who suffered second-degree burns on most of his face, upset her deeply.