Authorities Investigate Deacon Girls Deaths at Ladson Home

Two young sisters, Emory Deacon, 2, and Harlow Deacon, 15 months old, were found dead Sept. 29, 2026, inside their Ladson, South Carolina, home after authorities said they died from starvation and dehydration linked to neglect.

The Charleston County Coroner's Office identified the cause of death, while the Charleston County Sheriff's Office charged their mother, Justine May, with two counts of homicide by child abuse.

Authorities said deputies had responded to multiple calls at the Pinewood Drive residence, including welfare checks involving the South Carolina Department of Social Services and the South Carolina Department of Mental Health Mobile Crisis Unit, before the girls were found.

A 911 caller requested a welfare check after saying the children had not been seen and May was walking alone in the neighborhood.

"I'm just concerned because she didn't have her kids, and nobody has seen her kids. She was walking down the road today, and she didn't have her babies, and that's not like her," the caller told the Charleston County 911 dispatcher.

Authorities said May told detectives she could not remember the last time she fed or gave her children anything to drink. She remained jailed at the Al Cannon Detention Center.

Newly released body camera footage showed contacts between May, deputies, DSS workers and mental health responders before the deaths. Sheriff Carl Ritchie said previous visits did not show signs that the children were in distress.

"We did respond numerous times to that address. … We checked on the mom; we checked on the children," Ritchie said.

Ritchie said deputies must follow legal limits when responding to welfare concerns and said the investigation into the children's deaths remains ongoing.

"You have to understand, we can't just go in and take someone's children. We are guided by the law and the Constitution," Ritchie said.

The footage also showed a Sept. 12 visit from the Office of Mental Health Mobile Crisis Unit. During that interaction, May discussed her mental health history after a responder asked about postpartum depression.

"And you've never been diagnosed with postpartum depression?" the responder asked.

"No," May said before correcting herself. "Well, (redacted) when I had my daughter Harlow."

May also told responders she had taken medication briefly after Harlow's birth and said she had not seen a therapist, psychiatrist or been hospitalized.

"I was on (redacted) for two weeks and then I got off of it and I was fine," May said.

During the visits, responders documented concerns involving conditions around the home, including trash and previous allegations made to authorities. A family attorney later requested an independent review of the sheriff's office response.

"The Deacon family's trust in the Charleston County Sheriff's Office has been irreparably damaged. The Sheriff's public statements have only deepened that damage," attorney Gedney M. Howe IV wrote.

Howe called for the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division to examine the agency's handling of welfare checks and related decisions before the girls' deaths.

"We are asking for an independent investigation of how the Charleston County Sheriff's Office handled this family in the weeks before Emory and Harlow died," Howe said.

The Charleston County Sheriff's Office released incident reports connected to 23 calls to May's home documented by 911 dispatch this year. The agency said no reports were made for 18 other calls.

Family members held funeral services for the girls as a makeshift memorial appeared at the mailbox outside the Pinewood Drive home.