Girl found dead in Jefferson County was aspiring softball pitcher, ‘loved everybody’ (2024)

CRYSTAL CITY — Scarlet Parmeley loved to dress up like Pokemon, she got a dirt bike for Christmas and had big plans to take lessons to become a softball pitcher this summer.

“She was a tomboy of sorts and a girly-girl at the same time,” family friend Kat Thornton, of Festus, said Wednesday. “She was so full of life. She loved everybody.”

Family and friends of the 9-year-old girl were stunned by the news that Scarlet and her baby brother, 2-year-old Isaac, were killed Tuesday.

Police say the children’s mother, 36-year-old Ashley Parmeley, drowned Isaac in De Soto and then fatally shot Scarlet in St. Francois County. The children lived with their mother in Pevely.

Police have yet to identify a motive. Parmeley was charged in her son’s death on Tuesday and her daughter’s death on Wednesday.

Parmeley turned herself in at the Festus police station around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, before police were even aware of the deaths.

She pulled up to the station in a vehicle with Scarlet’s body in the trunk. She walked into the police station lobby, with wet clothes and looking disheveled, and said she killed her kids, police said. She then directed officers to Isaac, whose body was found in a pool of a water fountain at a resort about 13 miles away.

Thornton described the situation as “tragic” and said Scarlet “was a good big sister to Isaac. She always gave hugs and ‘I love yous.’”

Parmeley told police she had pulled off a road in St. Francois County near a lake or pond and shot her daughter, according to court documents.

Detectives in Jefferson County and St. Francois County are working together to sift through evidence and piece together the mother’s movements on the morning of the killings, said Blake Dudley, prosecuting attorney for St. Francois County. Evidence includes footage from surveillance cameras and details on cellphones.

She is being held without bond at the Jefferson County Jail.

Meanwhile, in Crystal City, Scarlet’s softball team, the Pink Flamingos, played a regularly scheduled game Wednesday night in honor of Scarlet following a vigil also in her honor. Other games in the Twin City Little League were canceled because of the deaths.

“I think it’s best they stick together,” Tracy Svejkosky, head coach of the team of 9- and 10-year-olds, said Wednesday afternoon.

Several hundred people attended the event. A prayer vigil was held on the outfield grass of the Little League field.

Svejkosky also has a daughter on the team. She said the deaths are incomprehensible, even for adults, and that it’s hard to know what to tell a child. She said she told her daughter that Scarlet was in heaven after a tragic accident.

But the kids have likely heard about the murders, through TV and social media, Svejkosky and Thornton both said.

Scarlet just finished third grade at Festus Elementary School. The last day of class was Friday.

Scarlet was new to the Flamingos this season. The players rotate positions to ensure playing time and help find what suits them best. Scarlet’s father, Jason Daugherty, had arranged for Scarlet to get lessons in pitching in the offseason, Svejkosky said.

Daugherty was heavily involved in his daughter’s sports, Svejkosky said. The girl’s mother came to the first practice but no games, Svejkosky said.

Svejkosky said she found out about the killings when Daugherty called her.

“He said Scarlet wouldn’t be at the game, that she loved softball, but unfortunately, she won’t be back,” Daugherty told the coach. He then said: “Her mother murdered her.”

The dad said the mother was unstable, Svejkosky recalled, but said he couldn’t get the “system” to listen to him.

Authorities have not said if anyone in the children’s lives asked the court system to intervene in a custody battle. And police say they had no red flags the children were in jeopardy.

“Law enforcement had no reason to believe there was any problem,” Jefferson County Sheriff Dave Marshak said. “Based on all of the investigative information coming in at this point, there was no indication that would have alerted law enforcement to a problem.”

Parmeley did not have a criminal record.

Court records indicate that Parmeley and Daugherty went to court at least once over a child’s custody in 2015. A month later, Daugherty was ordered to pay $333 per month plus health insurance for the child. Missouri court records do not show any more hearings related to the custody case since then.

Thornton said Scarlet often spent weekends with Daugherty at a home in the Festus area. Scarlet kept her dirt bike in a shed there. Daugherty was not Isaac’s father.

Svejkosky, the softball coach, said coping with the deaths has been “pretty rough” on her and many in the community.

“I think I’m numb,” she said, “and can’t wrap my head around it.”