LEIGH ANN PATTERSON - 9 Months (2010) - Flat Rock (E of Huntsville) AL

In northeastern Alabama, the Jackson County Sheriff's
Department is investigating an apparent murder/suicide in Flat Rock, a
rural community.

Chief Deputy Chuck Phillips says a 29-year-old woman shot and killed her
nine-month-old daughter with a high-powered rifle, and then took her
own life. It happened Thursday about 9 p.m. at a home on County Road
705.

When deputies arrived, they found the baby and the woman dead. It was
their second visit to the home in four hours, the only residence on the
secluded road.

"There was some domestic problems going on, that had went on throughout
the day, that made someone in the family feel uncomfortable," said
Phillips. "So they wanted us to go out and check on her and the child."

Phillips said it appears the woman had previous domestic problems. She
had been living with a boyfriend in Etowah County.

"There were some domestic problems, reasons she had moved here," said
Phillips. She had actually just moved back in with her mother with the
child about a week ago."

When deputies drove to the home around 5 p.m., no one was home, and the
yard was empty. They know the mother and child were still alive then,
because deputies found their bodies in the yard a few hours later.

The Jackson County Coroner's office pronounced the woman and the infant
both dead at the scene.

Phillips said there are still many questions surrounding the case.

"Obviously there was a domestic problem of some sort," said Phillips.
"But we don't know."

They may never know. Even though the situation has been ruled a
murder-suicide and the shooter is dead, the Jackson County District
Attorney will present the case to a grand jury in September as a matter
of procedure.

"Basically they just hear it, there's really no way to go, unless there
was a question, but in this particular case, there's a lot of things I'm
not telling you that I can't tell you, but there's no question about
what happened," said Phillips.