When police arrived to 32-year-old Talecka Brown’s Maryland home, they found Brown’s 13-year-old daughter suffering from a single gunshot wound to the neck. According to NBC Washington, Brown told police a homeless person fired the gun at her daughter as she was walking home from school, but authorities quickly realized Brown was hiding something a lot more sinister.
After the Monday (Sept. 23) shooting, investigators said they “could smell the scent of a discharged firearm inside the home,” per NBC Washington. Brown admitted there was a gun inside the residence, but she said the unregistered firearm was locked away in a safe and didn’t belong to her, per official reports.
Brown told her daughter to continue the lie that a homeless person shot her, but after surveillance footage showed the teen in perfect health coming home from school, moving the trash can from the curb, and then walking into the house, all eyes quickly turned to her mother, according to Fox 5 News.
Brown’s daughter later confessed to authorities that she and her mother got into an argument which turned physical, Fox 5 reported.
According to the girl, during the altercation, she began walking down the stairs as she noticed her mother was holding a gun. A single gunshot was fired, and the 13-year-old was sent falling down the stairs and was unable to move, per charging documents.
“It is always tragic when we have acts of violence within our community, but it is heart wrenching when the perpetrator is supposed to be your protector,” Seat Pleasant Acting Police Chief Heyward said in a statement.
Investigators questioned Brown, and after hearing conflicting accounts, the 32-year-old was arrested and charged with first degree attempted murder. Fox 5 reported the mother was denied bail last Wednesday after Assistant State’s Attorney for Prince George’s County, Ashley Sowls, said Brown left a disturbing voicemail to her daughter’s father from jail that same day.
“Come on, that’s not me,” Brown said in the voicemail. She then insisted the case against her “would go away” if her daughter didn’t show up to court or make a formal statement against her.
After the hearing, Sowls said “that was concerning to the state because, obviously, with her being 13 years old, she’s very impressionable.” She continued, “it’s her mother. She’s going to listen to her mother. We don’t want her to be tainted in any way by the pressure.”
The 13-year-old girl remains in intensive care as she continues to recover from her injuries. Thankfully, she is able to walk despite concerns about potential paralysis. Sowls said the girl’s mother never asked how her daughter was doing.