SMYRNA, Ga. – A Georgia family is mourning the loss of their loved one and hailing her as a hero after she died protecting her 6-month-old baby.
WSB reported Jessica Arrendale, 33, was out with her husband, 30-year-old Antoine Davis, when the former Marine and Iraq war veteran became “belligerently drunk and abusive.”
Officials said later that night Arrendale locked herself and her 6-month-old baby in the bathroom.
Jessica Arrendale Credit: Leslie Tidwell Jordan via WGHP
That was after police said she tried to defend herself and her baby with a baseball bat.
The report states Davis overpowered her and hit her with the bat while she was holding her daughter.
Police said he also may have hit the baby in the process; the child had a traumatic head injury.
According to police, Davis broke through the bathroom door and shot Arrendale in the head with a rifle.
Officers went to the home but were unable to contact anyone inside.
They said they didn’t rush into the home because they were concerned their actions might spark violence.
Lawmen didn’t know the mother was dead and Davis had turned the gun on himself hours before.
When police got into the home, they found the mother shot to death in the bathroom.
Her body was covering her baby who had survived in the toilet for about 13 hours.
Arrendale’s relatives said they believe Davis would have shot the baby as well if she wasn’t protected by her mother’s body.
Officials said the baby is being treated for the head injury and hypothermia.
Friends and family have set up a gofundme page to help offset the cost of the funeral and aid in the education of Arrendale’s children.
