Officials took the mother into custody after finding the children's bodies. (Representational Image)
Police have arrested a Tennessee woman and accused her of killing her four children by slitting their throats with a butcher knife.
Shanynthia Gardner, 29, of Memphis, faces four counts of murder and child abuse and neglect in the deaths of her children, who ranged in age from 6 months to 4 years, according to the Associated Press.
She is being held without bond and is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday.
A fifth child, identified as 7-year-old Dallen Clayton, managed to escape the apartment where the slaughter occurred, according to an affidavit cited by the AP.
"One of the most difficult questions in any investigation always is, why did it occur?" Shelby County Sheriff Bill Oldham told CNN affiliate WMC.
"It is certainly something that has impacted us as an organization and a family," he added, referring to the sheer brutality of the killings.
The AP identified the victims as 4-year-old Tallen Gardner, 3-year-old Sya Gardner, 2 year-old Sahvi Gardner and 6-month old Yahzi Gardner.
Sheriff's deputies discovered the crime scene after they received a 911 call at 12:30 p.m. Friday directing them to the Greens of Irene apartment complex, a gated community in unincorporated Shelby County, the AP reported. The caller alerted deputies after witnessing Dallen screaming for help and saying his sister was hurt, according to court documents cited by the New York Daily News.
Once inside the apartment, an affidavit cited by the AP stated, deputies observed small cuts on Shanynthia Gardner's neck and wrists. The affidavit stated that her children had "severe lacerations to the throat."
Two children were found in the living room and two others in a bedroom, the AP reported.
A witness told investigators that he had seen Gardner exit her apartment with a large knife in her hand before going back inside, the AP reported. Investigators found the weapon in the apartment.
Oldham told the AP that investigators are searching for a motive in the killings and exploring the possibility that Gardner was suffering from mental illness.
An affidavit cited by the AP states that Gardner admitted to killing her children during a phone call with her husband.
Gardner worked part time for ALSAC, which raises money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, according to CBS affiliate WREG. In recent months, police documents cited by the station suggest, her behavior had become erratic:
"WREG discovered another police document from 2015 that stated Gardner was reported missing back on March 19 just days after telling her family she felt like someone was trying to hurt her and her family." the station reported.
Neighbors told WMC that they were baffled by the crime.
"I can't imagine what those babies do to make you do that," Trisha Johnson told WMC. "If you're having trouble, go and say you're having trouble. Everybody gets stressed out. Kids are home from school, you don't know what to do with them, you have no money to do with them, but you don't take their lives."
At a vigil for the children on Saturday night, Sonya Clayton, Dallen's grandmother, told the AP that the attack took her completely by surprise.
"She was a sweet young lady," Clayton said of Shanynthia Gardner. "What happened, I don't understand."
© 2016 The Washington Post
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