DEVEAN and Ja'VAN DULEY - 2 yo and 18 Months -(2010) Orangeburg (S of Columbia) SC

The bodies of two toddlers were recovered Monday from a car submerged
in a South Carolina river and their mother was charged with leaving the
scene as authorities investigated whether it was an accident.
Orangeburg County Sheriff Larry Williams said the boys, ages 1
and 2, were recovered from the North Edisto River after the car was
found near a rural boat landing.
Their mother, whose name was not released, was being held Monday on a charge of
leaving the scene of an accident, Williams said.
He said the Highway Patrol was notified about 6:15 a.m. Monday that there
had been an accident and a woman needed help getting her children out of
the car. Divers were brought to the scene.
The children, still strapped in their child seats, were dead when the car
was lifted from the water about 45 minutes later, he said.
"Early in the investigation, the state patrol felt there was not
enough indicators to substantiate that there was an automobile
accident," Williams said. "We are looking into all possibilities as to
what happened."
The woman, who did not have a cell phone, walked some distance
down the country road by the boat landing
and flagged down a passing motorist to call the Highway Patrol.
"She showed some emotion, but I can't say she was overly
distraught," the sheriff said. "Through her statements, there are some
things we think are not believable."
The sheriff said boat landing is down an asphalt road from the road that crosses the
river and authorities are investigating how it could have been a traffic accident.
Williams said the children's father did not live with the family. The sheriff said authorities were
attempting to contact him.
Orangeburg is about 35 miles south of Columbia, the state capital.
The incident was reminiscent of the deaths of two other toddlers in South Carolina.
In 1994, in a case that made headlines worldwide, Susan
Smith left her 3-year-old and 14-month-old sons strapped in their car
seats as she rolled her car into a lake in Union County in the northwest part of the state.
She was convicted in their deaths and is serving a life prison term.

The bodies of a one and two year old child were pulled from a car in
the the Edisto River Monday morning, and deputies are investigating the
circumstances leading up to the deaths.
Orangeburg County Sheriff Larry Williams say a call came in at 6:40 a.m. from the children's mother about the incident.
The location she gave officers was a boat landing on Shilling Bridge
Road near the Edisto River. Emergency crews responded, found the car,
and began pulling the vehicle from the river.


Officers say the children were found in their car seats.
The woman reportedly told officers that she had an accident and
walked a quarter of a mile before calling anyone for help. Officers,
however, say they have found no evidence of an accident.
Deputies would not give the name of the woman or the children, only
saying that the mother is a 29-year-old resident of Orangeburg County.
Sheriff Larry Williams reports that the mother is being held and
charged with leaving the scene of an accident. She faces no additional
charges at this time.
Roads in that area were blocked for several hours while officers investigated.

Two children's bodies have been recovered from a submerged vehicle in the Edisto River and their mother has been arrested.

The South Carolina Highway Patrol was called to
the Shillings Bridge boat ramp for a report of a vehicle in the water
around 6 a.m. Monday. Once on the scene, troopers, believing it was more
than an accident, called the Orangeburg County Sheriff's Department.

Orangeburg County dive team members discovered the
bodies of a 1-year-old and 2-year old boy inside the Green Dodge
Intrepid at 6:40 a.m. The toddler's bodies were still strapped in their
child restraint seats when they were recovered.

Ramona Millhouse watched as rescue crews worked to recover the boys, and pull the car out of the water.

"One of them carried a little boy off to the
ambulance and then there was a girl working with them and she took the
other little boy off the stretcher and she carried him to the
ambulance," said Millhouse.

According to Orangeburg County Sheriff Larry
Williams, the boys' 29-year-old mother walked almost a mile before
calling for help. Williams said she described the incident as an
"accident."

Authorities said the mother has one other child
and is from Orangeburg County. Her name has not been released. She is
charged with leaving the scene of an accident. Williams said there's a
possibility this was not an accident.

"It's a possibility, of course, with her leaving
the scene of the accident, and we're going to further interview her
today, and that's a possibility," said Williams.

Williams says Troopers did not find any evidence
that the car was in an accident. The only explanation, according to
Williams, is that the car went into the river at a nearby boat landing.

"She left the location," said Williams. "She
walked away from the vehicle, maybe three-fourths of a mile away, of
course, where she had contacted someone to call law enforcement to
report that she had been involved in an accident."

"We definitely didn't have any evidence of a vehicle accident," added the sheriff.

A witness said she overheard investigators saying the ignition was left on when they opened the car door in the water.

Orangeburg sheriff's deputies had Shillings Bridge
Road closed down for most of the morning while trying to retrieve the
vehicle from the river.

The names of the children have not been released.

An autopsy will be conducted on the bodies to determine exact cause of death.

The sheriff did not say whether the investigation
is to a point where investigators can say for sure, exactly how, or who
put the car in the river.

how tragic for these children -

The 29-year-old mother of two children found
dead in vehicle submerged in the Edisto River has been charged with
leaving the scene of an accident, according to the Orangeburg County
Sheriff's Department.

Shaquan Duley, who was identified by the
Orangeburg County Detention Center as the mother of the children, is
being interviewed by the sheriff's department after the incident that
Orangeburg County Sheriff Larry Williams doesn't believe was an
accident.

"It's a possibility, of course, with her
leaving the scene of the accident, and we're going to further
interview her today, and that's a possibility," said Williams.

The South Carolina Highway Patrol was called
to the Shillings Bridge boat ramp around 6:00 a.m. Once on the scene,
troopers, believing it was more than an accident, called for
assistance.

Orangeburg County dive team
members discovered the bodies of a 1-year-old and 2-year old boy inside
the Green Dodge Intrepid at 6:40a.m. The toddler's bodies were still
strapped in their child restraint seats when they were recovered.

Orangeburg County Coroner Samuetta Marshall
identified the children as 18-month-old Ja'van T. Duley and 2-year-old
Devean C. Duley.

According to Williams, Duley walked almost a mile before calling for help.

Williams says Troopers did not find any
evidence that the car was in an accident. The only explanation,
according to Williams, is that the car went into the river at a nearby
boat landing.

"She left the location," said Williams. "She
walked away from the vehicle, maybe three-fourths of a mile away, of
course, where she had contacted someone to call law enforcement to
report that she had been involved in an accident."

A witness said she overheard investigators saying the ignition was left on when they opened the car door in the water.

"We definitely didn't have any evidence of a vehicle accident," added the sheriff.

Ramona Millhouse watched as rescue crews worked to recover the boys, and pull the car out of the water.

"One of them carried a little boy off to the
ambulance and then there was a girl working with them and she took the
other little boy off the stretcher and she carried him to the
ambulance," said Millhouse.

Orangeburg sheriff's deputies had Shillings
Bridge Road closed down for most of the morning while trying to retrieve
the vehicle from the river.

An autopsy will be conducted on the bodies to determine exact cause of death.

The sheriff did not say whether the
investigation is to a point where investigators can say for sure,
exactly how, or who put the car in the river.

The bodies of two toddlers were pulled Monday from a car submerged in a
South Carolina river, their mother arrested and authorities were
investigating whether their deaths were accidental.
Two-year-old Devean C. Duley and 18-month-old Ja'van T. Duley were dead
by the time divers got to the car in the North Edisto River near a rural
boat landing, Orangeburg County Sheriff Larry Williams said. County
Coroner Samuetta Marshall would not speculate on a cause of death until
autopsies were completed Tuesday.


The boys' mother, Shaquan Duley, 29, was being held Monday on a charge
of leaving the scene of an accident. It was not immediately clear
whether she had a lawyer.
Williams said the Highway Patrol was notified about 6:15 a.m. that a
woman needed help getting her children out of the car. The children were
still strapped in their child seats when divers found them about 45
minutes after being called to the scene.
"Early in the investigation, the state patrol felt there was not enough
indicators to substantiate that there was an automobile accident,"
Williams said. "We are looking into all possibilities as to what
happened."
The woman, who did not have a cell phone, had walked some distance down
the country road by the boat landing and flagged down a passing motorist
to call the Highway Patrol."She showed some emotion, but I can't say she was overly distraught,"
the sheriff said. "Through her statements, there are some things we
think are not believable."
Williams said authorities were attempting to contact the children's father, who did not live with the family.
The sheriff said investigators are considering how a traffic accident
could have happened at the boat ramp, about 20 yards upstream from a
main road that crosses the slow-moving river in Orangeburg, about 35
miles south of Columbia, the state capital. A mobile home, a house and
mechanic's shop are a short distance away.Shakeyia Baxter said the main road was heavily traveled in the mornings
and would have been especially busy on Monday — the first day of school.
Baxter stopped by the boat ramp, which is littered with empty beer
cases and discarded soda bottles, on her way home from work at a
McDonald's to tuck silk flowers into a sign that warns of high levels of
mercury in the fish.
"My heart goes out to them," said Baxter, a 30-year-old mother of two.
"I would have been doing everything I could to get those kids out of
that car seat."

A South Carolina sheriff is expected to give more information about
the deaths of two toddlers whose bodies were recovered from a submerged
car and their mother arrested.An Orangeburg County Sheriff
spokeswoman says the news conference is expected sometime Tuesday
morning. Autopsies are also scheduled in the deaths of 18-month-old
Ja'van T. Duley and 2-year-old Devean C. Duley. They lived in
Orangeburg, which is about 35 miles south of the state capital of
Columbia.Their bodies were recovered Monday from the North Edisto
River in Orangeburg. Their mother 29-year-old Shaquan Duley is being
held on a charge of leaving the scene of an accident.Williams says deputies are investigating whether the deaths were accidental.

Autopsies are planned Tuesday for two children after their remains
were found in a submerged car. Their mother heads to court on Tuesday
for her bond hearing on a charge of leaving the scene of an accident.
Rescuers towed the car out of the Edisto River Monday morning after
the woman told Orangeburg County Sheriff's Deputies she lost control of
her car.
Rescuers said the two young boys were still strapped in the car seats
when they pulled the car out of the river not far from a boat landing.
The toddlers are identified as 18-month-old Ja'van Duley and his
two-year-old brother Devean. A bond hearing is scheduled Tuesday morning
for their mother, 29-year-old Shaquen Duley. She's charged with leaving
the scene of an accident.
Orangeburg County Sheriff Larry Williams said, "She left the
location, she walked away from the vehicle maybe three quarters of a
mile a away."
Investigators said she flagged down a trooper for help. The officer
said she claimed she didn't have a cell phone but did not appear to be
overly distraught.
Sheriff Williams talked with CNN Monday night about the problems with her story.
"Of course, one of the first things I wanted to know was was there
any physical evidence to support what would allegedly be an accident,
and of course, we found none, and then, of course, there was no physical
evidence (indistinct) any clothing on the water; anything on the mother
would indicate that she had been in the water; so there were some
things there that caused some issues of concern", said Sheriff Williams.
Officers are still trying to determine if the crash was really an accident.
The autopsy results may be available as early as Tuesday.
Investigators will not say what they plan to announce at a news conference Tuesday, but have said more charges are possible.

Two young boys were pulled dead from the child seats in their car in a
river and a South Carolina sheriff said Tuesday he expects to press
murder charges against their mother.
Speaking on CBS' "Early Show," Orangeburg County Sheriff Larry
Williams said there were inconsistencies in the mother's account that
she'd been in an accident, such as her clothes being dry.
"For someone who had just plunged into the Edisto River here, of
course, and had two children in the car, her clothing wasn't damp,"
Williams said of Shaquan Duley's initial report.
The sheriff also noted that Duley, 29, walked some distance from the car
to find help when there were nearby houses.
Williams said investigators were ready to present their case to a
judge in hopes of getting murder charges against Duley, who was in
custody Tuesday.
Duley was arrested Monday and was being held on a charge of leaving
the scene of an accident after her two sons were found dead in a vehicle
in the North Edisto River, still strapped into their car seats.
Autopsies were planned Tuesday on the bodies of 2-year-old Devean C.
Duley and 18-month-old Ja'van T. Duley to determine how they died.
Williams planned a news conference for 10 a.m. to discuss more details.
In 1994, the state saw another case in which two sons were found dead
in their car. Susan Smith left her 3-year-old and 14-month-old sons
strapped in their car seats as she rolled her car into a lake in Union
County in the northwest part of the state. She was convicted in their
deaths and is serving a life prison term.
On Monday, Williams said that early in the investigation, state
patrol officers felt the facts didn't support that there was accident.
"We are looking into all possibilities as to what happened," the sheriff said.
The sheriff said investigators were considering how a traffic
accident could have happened at the boat ramp, about 20 yards upstream
from a main road that crosses the North Edisto River in Orangeburg, some
35 miles south of Columbia, the state capital.
A woman who watched divers pull the toddlers' limp bodies out of the
car near her home said she couldn't understand why the boys' mother
didn't bang on her door for help. Ramona Milhouse, whose side porch door
is steps from the river, said at first Monday she thought the boys were
unconscious, until she realized their bodies were being taken to the
ambulance with no attempt to revive them.
"It sounds fishy to me," the 81-year-old Milhouse said. "If that was
an accident, that woman would've been over here screamin' and hollerin'
and really raising the devil."
Milhouse said when she and her husband woke up and looked outside,
rescue workers were already at the car, and she could see the head of
one boy above the water. The car had to come from the boat landing, on
the other side of a concrete bridge adjoining her property, and down the
slow-moving river, said Milhouse, who's lived full-time at the
riverside home for about 35 years.
"It's real low," she said, so it could have taken awhile.
The car windows were up, and she heard rescuers say the ignition was
on. She watched as the car was pulled down the middle of the river and
hauled onto the bridge with a crane.
Besides the Milhouses, a mobile home and a mechanic's shop are also nearby.
Local residents said they, too, were suspicious.
Shakeyia Baxter said the main road was heavily traveled in the
mornings and would have been especially busy on Monday — the first day
of school. Baxter stopped by the boat ramp, which is littered with empty
beer cases and discarded soda bottles, on her way home from work to
tuck silk flowers into a sign that warns of high levels of mercury in
the fish. Lily pads dotted the dingy water by the ramp, and mosquitoes swarmed.
"My heart goes out to them," said Baxter, a 30-year-old mother of
two. "I would have been doing everything I could to get those kids out of that car seat."

A South Carolina mother who claimed her children drowned when their
car careened into a river was charged with murder Tuesday after
authorities said she confessed to suffocating the two toddlers and then
faking the accident.Sheriff Larry Williams said 29-year-old
Shaquan Duley told investigators she was distraught about money troubles
and unemployment and that she killed her children by putting her hand
over their mouths after a dispute with her own mother. He says Duley
then strapped the children into her car and drove it into a river Monday
morning."This was a young lady that was in trouble, in trouble
in more ways than she realized," Williams said. "She was in trouble and
she didn't know where to turn."Williams said the responsibilities
of being a mother were simply too much for Duley, who didn't show signs
of remorse during an overnight interview with authorities.Two-year-old
Devean C. Duley and 18-month-old Ja'van T. Duley were dead in their
child seats by the time divers got to the car Monday near a rural boat
landing on the North Edisto River in Orangeburg, some 35 miles south of
Columbia, the state capital.The Highway Patrol was notified
around 6:15 a.m. Monday that a woman needed help getting her children
out of a car. Duley, who did not have a cell phone, had walked some
distance down the country road by the boat landing and flagged down a
passing motorist to call the Highway Patrol.Duley was to be arraigned later Wednesday.

I knew IT! I knew she killed those babies! Why would she not have told her mom I don't want these kids anymore. Would her mom have listened? Would her mom have felt this was just her daughter's way out of being a parent and then just turned her back on her? Why wouldnt she have told someone, "I can't and don't want these kids. IF someone doesn't take them, I am gonna give them away or kill them". Would someone have listened to her and took them or would they just assume that if you push tough love and make her keep them, she would do the right thing? Was she really very distraught or did she do like CA and kill them in spite, because of her agrument with her mom? I am so sad. I just really don't understand. I wished I could gather every child that is being neglected or not wanted and give them hugs everyday and make them smile. Life is hard enough when you become an adult, a child should be happy before reality sets in. Sorry, typing thru tears. Just makes me so mad and hurt at the same time.

It sounds like she lost the plot Mimi. She doesn't sound too bright either seeing as trying to make it look like a car crash and not realizing she needed to be wet and other things is a bit daft. I don't think she was thinking rationally at all.

The family of Shaquan, Devean, and Ja'Van Duley are struggling to deal with a tragedy which is impossible to comprehend.
Shaquan, 29, is accused of suffocating her children--18-month-old
Ja'Van and 2-year-old Devean--at a hotel, then driving her car into the
Edisto River with their lifeless bodies still inside.
Investigators say she confessed to the crime during questioning Monday night.
Her family spoke with reporters but they did not want to go on camera because they were too upset.
Shaquan's mother, Elaine, says they are struggling to accept the
reality of the situation as well as bury the two children, but they say
prayer is helping them.
But their test of faith doesn't end there.
Shaquan also has a five-year-old daughter that Elaine plans to raise.
Elaine says she only wants for her granddaughter to know love.
At the Little Tots daycare, where Shaquan took her children, the
daycare owner describes Shaquan as a woman who seemed like a good
mother. She says Shaquan was excited about her children's progress, even
buying flash cards to make learning easier.
Meanwhile, the family says they're setting up a fund at a local bank to help with expenses.

The Orangeburg County Coroner says one of the children who deputies say
was killed by their mother showed signs of a struggle.
Shaquan Duley, 29, is accused of killing 18-month-old Ja'Van Duley and 2-year-old Devean Duley.
According to Orangeburg County Sheriff Larry Williams, Duley admitted
to putting her hands over the children's mouths and suffocating them.
Deputies say she then drove to Shillings Bridge Road and put her car in
the Edisto River with the lifeless bodies of her children inside.
Coroner Samuetta Marshall reported that Devean Duley showed defensive
wounds and signs of a struggle. She said there was bruising on the child.
Williams said his investigators believe the woman was "fed up" with
the responsibility of motherhood and killed the children. She had
reportedly been arguing with her mother the night before about how to raise the children.
Shaquan Duley was unemployed at the time and living with her mother
and was having difficulty caring for the children.

David Lohr
Contributor
AOL News

(Aug. 18) -- A South Carolina mother
accused of killing her two young sons was a "friendly person" who took
good care of her kids, acquaintances said. But police say Shaquan Duley
"just wanted to be free."

Women who kill their own children often
want to present themselves as good mothers, an expert says. But
secretly, they are seething with the desire to be rid of the
responsibilities they feel are dragging them down.

"Many women
who kill their children are seen publicly as good mothers because they
often actually overdo their public persona. Their egos demand everyone
think they are awesome moms, " said Pat Brown, founder of the Pat Brown Criminal Profiling Agency.

"But, inside the home, on a 24-hour basis, one will see these women show a
high level of disinterest in their children, a lack of empathy for their
children's needs, and a bitterness toward their caretaking job," Brown said.

There's more to read :
http://www.aolnews.com/crime/article/police-child-killer-mom-suspect-shaquan-duley-just-wanted-to-be-free/19597692

Hundreds were expected to attend funeral services for two South Carolina
toddlers authorities say were suffocated by their mother, then driven
into a river Monday.


Ja'Van and Devean Duley

A joint funeral service was scheduled Friday at
11 a.m. for 18-month-old Ja'Van T. Duley and 2-year-old Devean C. Duley
in Orangeburg, S.C. Their mother Shaquan Duley,
29, appeared in court for the first time Wednesday morning and was
"remorseful" for her actions, according to defense attorney Carl B.
Grant. The children's tragic deaths rattled the city. A steady
stream of mourners filed past the boys' small white coffins at a funeral
home Thursday. Duley originally told authorities that the
children drowned when their car careened into the Edisto River Monday
and that she couldn't manage to get the children out, but, according to
Orangeburg County Sheriff Larry Williams, the 29-year-old mother later
told police that she was "distraught" after a dispute she allegedly had
with her own mother and killed her two children by putting her hand over
their mouths at a local motel. According to investigators,
Duley then strapped the boys' lifeless bodies into child safety seats
inside a car, and drove to the Edisto River where officers believe she
allowed the car to roll into the river from a boat ramp. There
were homes near the bridge road where the tragic incident occurred.
However, Shaquan Duley walked three-quarters of a mile from the river
and found a driver who had a cell phone. The driver then called police. The two boys were dead when the divers got to the car near a rural boat landing about 45 minutes later, said Williams. "She
truly felt, 'If I don't have these toddlers, I can be free,'" said
Williams Tuesday. "I think she was fed up with her mother telling her
she couldn't take care of her children, or she wasn't taking care of the
children and just wanted to be free." Duley faces two murder charges in the death of her two sons.

Hundreds of mourners struggling with the deaths of two South Carolina
toddlers said goodbye Friday to the energetic, wide-eyed brothers who
authorities say were killed by their mother. People filed past
the small white caskets containing the bodies of 2-year-old Devean Duley
and 18-month-old Ja'van Duley, some dropping off stuffed animals, books
and flowers and pausing for a moment of prayer. The boys were dressed
in matching white tuxedos, their hands clasped across their chests. "Good
night from the land of the dying," Pastor Charcey Priester said before a
crowd of about 400 mourners gathered at St. Paul Baptist Church in
Orangeburg for the boys' funeral. "Good morning to the land of the
living." Divers pulled the boys' bodies from the North Edisto
River on Monday morning. Their mother, Shaquan Duley, 29, was charged
with two counts of murder after authorities say she confessed to
smothering the boys. Investigators said she did so after a fight with
her own mother, who Duley said badgered her about her failures as a
parent and inability to provide for her family. Duley is in jail awaiting a bail hearing and was not allowed to attend the service. After
arguing with her mother Sunday night, authorities say, Duley left her
daughter at the house and drove her two young sons to a motel, where she
suffocated them with her hand. She then strapped them into their car
seats, drove to a boat ramp some 10 miles away and rolled the car into
the slow-moving water, investigators said. Before Friday's
hourlong service, mourners watched as a slideshow played pictures from
the family's happier days. One photo showed Devean and Ja'van smiling
with their sister, Saniya, on their grandfather's lap. In another,
Shaquan Duley smiled as her children played at a playground. A funeral program noted Devean loved cartoons and being read to. Ja'van loved to play and eat pizza and hot dogs. On
Friday, Helen Duley sat with her granddaughter as Nathaniel Rhodes, a
deacon at St. Paul's, called on the congregation not to judge the boys'
mother but to put their faith in God. "There are a lot of questions of why it happened," Rhodes said. "Only God knows why it happened. Relatives
did not speak with reporters after the funeral service. Menia Lee, who
has known the Duley family for three decades, said she's confused and
saddened by the tragic events but thinks there is more to the story of
what led up to the boys' deaths. "It's been very difficult to
comprehend all of the events around this tragic situation," Lee said. "I
think there's a lot more that will probably come out and will let the
world know that this is a very good family." Dozens of people attended the boys' graveside service, where two white doves were released.

On this, they all agree.Shaquan Renee Duley was quiet. She spoke when spoken to, often with a smile.
She never gave her parents or her neighbors any trouble while growing
up in an old mill village at the edge of Orangeburg County’s
fairgrounds.Until her arrest Monday made national news, Duley
lived an unremarkable life. She graduated from high school, bounced
between jobs and struggled to raise three children.For now,
Shaquan Duley’s family is not talking. But her friends are, and they say
they want to know more about what led police to accuse the 29-year-old
mother of smothering her young sons, driving them in her car to the
North Edisto River and pushing them into the slow-moving water in hopes
of covering up the crime.Annette Blocker, a 65-year-old former
neighbor, said she couldn’t believe it when one of her daughters called
Monday with news of the two murder charges against Duley.“I said, ‘Noooo!
Something had to go wrong for Shaquan to do that,’” Blocker said. “What’s wrong? I just don’t know.”But
police said the stress of being an unemployed, single mother was
bearing down. Sunday night, the day before the boys were found, Duley
had a fight with her mother and left the house they shared, taking her
two boys, 2-year-old Devean and 18-month-old Ja’van with her, Orangeburg
County Sheriff Larry Williams said. She left her 5-year-old daughter
behind.The fight with her mother started over who would give
Ja’van a bath, said Chea Phelps, a 22-year-old friend who said she spoke
to Shaquan Duley that night after Shaquan left the house.
“She was telling me she was tired,” Phelps said. “She was fed up.”
ON WHALEY STREET
By all accounts, Shaquan Duley’s childhood was typical for a middle-class African-American family.Arthur
and Helen Duley raised Shaquan and her younger sister, Adrian, in a
small wood-frame house they bought in 1985 for $25,454.Blocker,
the neighbor, said Helen Duley’s grandmother lived with them until she
died in her mid-90s. Helen Duley would rise before the sun to bathe and
feed her grandmother before heading off to work at an assisted living
home, Blocker said.Helen Duley kept a spotless home, she said.
“You would never go in there and smell a stink,” Blocker said.
“You couldn’t tell a person was sick in there.”Helen Duley was strict with her daughters
but made sure every need was cared for.“She believed in a child being clean, fed and taken care of,”
Blocker said.Shaquan Duley did well in school, friends said.Shanti
Dupree, who attended school with Shaquan Duley from first through 12th
grade, remembers the two competing in a spelling bee in fourth grade.
Duley and Dupree were the two finalists, and the championship came down
to who could correctly spell “homophone.”Duley misspelled it.“I won, and she cried,” Dupree said.
“I felt bad because she cried.”Karlena
Clark, 28, said she and Shaquan Duley became best friends their
sophomore year at Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School. The two weren’t part
of the in-crowd and didn’t participate in clubs or sports. They just
clowned around together and shared a love for Chinese food.
“We were just enjoying who we were,” Clark said.After high school,
Duley took a few classes at Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College, Clark said.
She did not earn a degree.At some point, Duley reportedly worked at the Dairy-O, a burger and ice
cream joint, in downtown Orangeburg. The lone employee who remembered
Duley said she was quiet and showed up on time.Shaquan and her sister continued to live with their mother.Five
years ago, Shaquan Duley gave birth to a daughter, Saniya Duley. Devean
Christopher Duley was born in October 2007. His brother, Ja’van Tyrell
Duley, followed in February 2009.The children have the same
father, but he has never been involved in their lives, said Clark, the
high school friend. In fact, Clark said, she had never met the man and
only knew his first name.“That’s what always made me mad,” Clark said.
“He’s got all this responsibility, and he ain’t living up to it.”
The Duley family ran into financial trouble after Shaquan graduated from high school.In
2003, Sears took Helen Duley to court over an unpaid, $677 credit card
bill, according to records at the Orangeburg County Courthouse.In
2001, Arthur and Helen Duley took out a $48,000 mortgage on their
Whaley Street home. But they were never able to pay the note.
The house was sold in May 2007 at a foreclosure auction at the Orangeburg County Courthouse
for $25,000, court records show.Family friends said that is about the time Arthur Duley, a security guard at
S.C. State University, left the home. There are no divorce records on
file at the courthouse.Helen Duley and her daughters moved into
their current home on Hammock Street, where half the houses are boarded
up. The little yellow house was home to the three women, along with five
children all younger than 5, since Adrian, Shaquan’s sister, had two
boys of her own.Helen Duley continued working at the nursing home.
Shaquan Duley was unemployed. It’s unclear whether Adrian Duley had a job.Money was tight.
TENSION HIGH
The tension in the house ran high, said Phelps, the friend who said she
spoke to Shaquan Duley the night before she was arrested.
The two women met in 2009 in an employment preparation program offered
by the S.C. Department of Social Services.After
one class, Phelps said she saw Shaquan Duley leave the building with
tears in her eyes. She asked her classmate what was wrong.Shaquan
Duley said she needed milk for her youngest son, Ja’van, but was out of
her monthly food stamp allotment and did not have money. Phelps said
she, her mother and grandmother drove Shaquan Duley to the store and
paid for the milk.“Ever since then, ’Quan has been part of my family,” Phelps said.Phelps
and Shaquan Duley took online classes from the for-profit Everest
University. Shaquan was trying to earn a degree in medical coding and
billing.“It’s better to do online than a classroom because you
don’t have to worry about finding a baby sitter,” Phelps said.The
two women shared long conversations about raising their children,
hunting for jobs and the pressure they felt from their families. Both
wanted their own apartments.“We wanted to get up on our feet so
we could start our lives right,” Phelps said.Duley also complained about
the absence of her children’s father.“I told her that we’re going to struggle
whether our babies’ fathers are in the picture or not,” Phelps said.Dupree,
Shaquan’s childhood friend, said Duley had always had a wide smile. But
the last time they ran into each other, at a grocery store earlier this
year, the smile was missing.“She didn’t say much to me,” Dupree said.
Clark, too, knew Shaquan was going through a hard time.
She wishes her friend had turned to her for help.
SUNDAY NIGHT
Helen Duley pushed her daughter to do better, friends said.
“Her mother stayed on top of her,” Phelps said.However,
reports that Helen Duley is a harsh mother who criticized her daughter
are false, Clark said. Instead, Helen Duley was a concerned mother who
opened her home to her two grown daughters and their children.“That’s
not Miss Helen. She’s not a monster,” Clark said. “She was like any
other mother. She wanted the best for her kids and grandkids. She never
talked bad to her. She never talked bad about her. It was tough love.”In
a news conference after Duley’s arrest, Williams described Helen Duley
as “firm.” The mother and daughter had argued the night before, the
sheriff said. He did not elaborate.But Phelps said she knows what the
argument was about because Shaquan told her in that last phone conversation Sunday. Shaquan
had been styling her daughter’s hair for the girl’s first day of
school, Phelps said. She left the house to go to a beauty supply store,
to buy more hair to weave into the girl’s own. While she was gone, the
youngest boy pulled off his diaper and went to the bathroom on himself,
Phelps said.Shaquan Duley returned home just as Helen Duley and
Adrian Duley were preparing to wash the 18-month-old. Helen Duley
insisted she be the one to wash the little boy, and that’s when the
mother and daughter got into an argument, Phelps said.Shaquan
Duley called and was crying, Phelps said. She told her friend she was
leaving home, and Phelps said she invited Duley to bring the boys to her
fiancé’s house.“She never showed up, and I got worried,” Phelps said.
“I called her all night long, and it went straight to voice mail.”Even
though Shaquan may have been upset, her friends said, they never could
have imagined her doing what police have accused her of.According
to police reports, Shaquan Duley paid $35 for a room at Trumps Inn, an
aging motor court on Five Chop Road, at 1:30 a.m. Monday. She checked
into Room 31 in the back of the motel.There, Shaquan allegedly
placed her hands over her the mouths of Devean and Ja’van to smother
them, the sheriff said. After the boys were dead, she put their bodies
in their car seats in the back of her grey Chrysler sedan.Shaquan
then drove nearly 15 miles from the motel to a rural boat ramp off
Shillings Bridge Road in northern Orangeburg County. Police said she
pushed the car into the shallow river and then began walking back down
the road.Shortly after 6:30 a.m., she flagged down a motorist and told him
there had been an accident at the bridge.Police
did not believe her story from the beginning. Williams has said Shaquan
Duley’s dry clothes were an immediate indication that she was not
telling the truth. He said she confessed to the crime later that day.
COPING
Prosecutors have not decided whether they will seek the death penalty. Shaquan
Duley’s next court appearance will be a bail hearing.Her
attorney, Carl B. Grant, has said there is more to the story than what
has been released to the public. That side will be revealed in time, he
said.Until then, family, friends and a curious public will search
for answers — answers that, if they come, still may not be easy to
understand.For now, family, friends, co-workers and church
brethren of Helen Duley have drawn a tight circle around her. They have
brought food to the house and turned reporters away at the front door.As
for Shaquan Duley, public condemnation has been swift and angry. A
Facebook page entitled “Give Shaquan Duley what she deserves. Child
murderer” has more than 2,000 members. People have left stinging
comments calling for the death penalty and criticizing her lifestyle.Those
who call themselves Shaquan Duley’s closest friends said that if she is
found guilty, they cannot excuse her actions. Still, they said they
will try to support her.“I just want it to be known that I’m her close friend
and I love her,” Clark said.Blocker, the former next-door neighbor, said she
has told her family they must pray for all of the Duleys.“We’ve
got to pull together for Helen, and Shaquan, too,” Blocker said.
“Shaquan is going to need us because we just don’t know what happened.”

Bond denied for SC mother accused in sons' suffocation deaths
By the CNN Wire Staff
September 13, 2010 4:58 p.m. EDT
(CNN) -- A judge in Orangeburg County, South Carolina, denied bond Monday for a woman charged with two counts of murder in the smothering deaths of her two young sons last month.

Shaquan Duley, 29, wiped away tears and held her head in her hand throughout the hearing as relatives and friends asked Judge Edgar Dickson to grant her bond.

"My daughter has never been in trouble with the law until now," said Duley's mother, Helen Duley.

She described her daughter as "a very loving and kindhearted person" and a "good mother (who) truly loves her children and tried to provide the best that she could for them."

Orangeburg County Solicitor David Pascoe, however, argued that bond be denied "due to the severe nature of the allegations," and left open the possibility that he could seek the death penalty against Duley in a capital murder trial.

Pascoe also argued that Duley remains a danger to the community and to her 5-year-old daughter, who was not with her at the time of the boys' deaths.

Authorities say Duley pressed her hand over the mouths of 2-year-old Devean Duley and 1-year-old Ja'van Duley, suffocating them inside a motel room at the Trumps Inn, just outside of Orangeburg the night of August 15. She then strapped her dead sons into their car seats, drove across town to a boat ramp, put the car in neutral and sent it into the river, they say.

Orangeburg County Sheriff Larry Williams told reporters last month that Duley had no means of taking care of her children.

"She lives with her mother, and her mother was a very, I guess, firm individual," Williams said. "She often talked with her daughter about, I guess, maybe being more of a mother or being more reliable."

The mother and daughter argued the night before the children's bodies were found in Duley's Chrysler sedan, Williams said.

"We believe this is a direct response (to the argument) from Ms. Duley," he said. "I believe she was just fed up with her mother telling her she couldn't take care of the children, and she wasn't taking care of her children, and she just wanted to be free."

On Monday, Duley's attorney, Carl Grant, argued that his client was suffering from mental illness at the time of the alleged killings and had tried to commit suicide as many as three times.

"She is a very quiet, reserved, caring and fun-loving person who loved her children but was going through a very tough time the last three years," Grant said, citing the deaths of two family members, a bout with bone cancer, her unemployment and having to raise three small children by herself.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/09/13/south.carolina.children.deaths/index.html

December 10th 2010
ORANGEBURG, S.C. - A South Carolina mother accused of suffocating her two young sons and driving her car into a river in an attempt to cover up their deaths has lost custody of a third child.The Times and Democrat of Orangeburg reports that a judge on Thursday granted custody of the young daughter to Shaquan Duley's mother.Duley was charged with two counts of murder after divers pulled the bodies of 2-year-old Devean Duley and 18-month-old Ja'van Duley from the North Edisto River on Aug. 16. Investigators say Duley confessed to smothering the boys after a fight with her own mother, who Duley said badgered her about her failures as a parent and inability to provide for her family.Duley is in jail and has been denied bond. No trial date has been set.http://www.startribune.com/nation/111659869.html

The following post was a long time coming.

S.C. mother pleads guilty to murder of 2 sons

By the CNN Wire Staff
updated 8:07 PM EDT, Fri March 16, 2012



Police say Shaquan Duley suffocated 1-year-old Ja'Van Duley and 2-year-old Devean Duley.


STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: "I don't know what went on with me," a mother says after pleading guilty to murder
  
• Authorities said Shaquan Duley suffocated her sons in a hotel room
  
• She put their bodies in a car that she put in neutral, sending them into a river, they say
  
• A prosecutor says there was no plea deal, and Duley will get 30 years to life in prison
  

(CNN)
-- A South Carolina mother on Friday asked for forgiveness and mercy,
in the eyes of God and a judge, after pleading guilty to two counts of
murder for killing her two toddler sons -- saying she hoped to someday
reunite with them, "even though it's not on this side of eternity."

"I
know what happened is ... unusual and it's not my character," a tearful
Shaquan Duley said in an Orangeburg court after entering her plea. "I
don't know what went on with me."

Authorities have said that on
the night of August 15, 2010, Duley suffocated 2-year-old Devean Duley
and 1-year-old Ja'Van Duley by putting her hand over their mouths in a
room at the Trumps Inn just outside Orangeburg.

She then put
their bodies into their car seats, drove across town to a boat ramp, put
the Chrysler sedan in neutral and sent it into the North Edisto River,
they said.

Duley's then-5-year-old daughter was not with them at the time.

Orangeburg
County Sheriff Larry Williams said soon after the incident that
authorities believed the deaths were "a direct response" to an argument
between Duley and her mother, who lived together, the night before.

"I believe she was just fed up with her mother telling her she couldn't take care of the children," Williams said.

The
next month, Helen Duley described her daughter as "a very loving and
kindhearted person" and a "good mother" during a court hearing to
consider whether the suspect should be granted the opportunity to post
bail.

"My daughter has never been in trouble with the law until now," Helen Duley said.

Speaking
in court Friday, Duley did not delve much into her rationale beyond
saying, "I know I was depressed for a long time, and I hurt for a long
time."

She also did not deny any facts as presented by law
enforcement, apologizing to her family and "to this community, to this
court (and) to this state for all that has happened."

But, pointing to her lack of a criminal record, she insisted, "I'm not a bad person at all" and "I have a good heart."

Duley
also said she prays every day for the opportunity "to keep (her sons')
memory alive by sharing the love that I have for them."

"My heart
hurts every single day because I do not have them anymore," she said,
addressing Judge Ed Dickson. "I miss them so much, your honor, and
there's nothing that can fill that void."

First Circuit Solicitor David Pascoe pointed out that there was no plea deal, as Duley pleaded guilty to the charges filed.

"I
wanted to make sure Shaquan Duley was held accountable for the horrific
death of these two boys and that she pled to murder as she was
charged," Pascoe said. "I was not willing to plead this case to any
charge that carried less than 30 years in prison."

Duley is expected to be sentenced during the week of March 26, according to Pascoe.

The
judge could sentence her to 30 years -- assuming the two sentences are
served concurrently -- to a maximum of life in prison without the
possibility of parole, Pascoe said. Even with a less stringent sentence,
Duley would get no credit for good behavior or a chance at early
release on parole.

A month after her arrest, Duley's lawyer, Carl Grant, argued then that his client was suffering from mental illness.

He
called her "a very quiet, reserved, caring and fun-loving person who
... was going through a very tough time," citing the deaths of two
family members, a bout with bone cancer and the challenge of being a
single mother.

www.cnn.com/2012/03/.../south-carolina-mother-murder/index.html

The boys must have put up a fight and struggled with their mother as she was murdering them. What an awful way to die, at the hands of their own mother.

Her excuses are just that, excuses.

Wasn't Susan Smith from the same state?

Shaquan Duley, the Orangeburg mother who killed her two young sons in
2010, is now serving time in Graham Correctional Facility on Broad
River Road.
Duley was admitted there on Friday to begin her sentence of 35 years in prison.

A judge handed down his decision at the Orangeburg County Courthouse just before 11:30 a.m. Friday.

The judge said Duley would get credit for time served in jail, which is roughly 19 months.

Her family members wept in court after the decison was announced.

Duley pleaded guilty earlier in the month to two murder charges in
the killings of 18-month-old Ja'Van Duley and 2-year-old Devean Duley.
Her attorney, Carl Grant, had asked the court for 30 years in prison,
which was the minimum possible sentence. Grant had argued that his
client had no prior criminal record and was emotionally disturbed at the
time of the killings.

Back in August of 2010, Duley suffocated her two sons at a local
motel. Sheriff's investigators said she'd had a fight with her mother
hours earlier over the rearing of the two children.

Shaquan Duley then put the children's bodies in their car seats,
drove to the Edisto River on Shillings Bridge Road, and drove the car
into the water.

A week ago, TV host Oprah Winfrey interviewed Duley one-on-one at the
Orangeburg-Calhount Detention Center. The interview, scheduled to air
at 9 p.m. Sunday on Winfrey's OWN Network, will be the last time anyone
gets to speak to Duley publicly about the crime. Now that Duley is
headed to prison, she'll be under the custody of the South Carolina
Department of Corrections, which has a long-standing policy against
interviews with prisoners.
http://www.wltx.com/news/article/181953/2/Shaquan-Duley-is-Now-Behind-Bars-in-Columbia?odyssey=tab|topnews|bc|large

35 years? thats all for 2 precious little boys? unbelievable!!