32-year-old Erica Hall was found dead in her Magnolia, Mississippi, home on January 4 after being shot and stabbed multiple times.
Her two daughters, 14-year-old Amariyona Hall and her 12-year-old sister whose name has been withheld in all reports due to youth court laws, were taken into custody and accused of their mother’s murder.
The two girls spoke to reporters for the first time since their arrest just this past weekend.
via WDSU:
Hall was killed in January in Pike County. The 14-year-old and her 12-year-old sister were arrested. The younger girl was charged as a juvenile.
Amariyona was released over the weekend after $10,000 bail was posted. Her sister was released from the Pike County Juvenile Detention Center.
When a reporter asked Amariyona Hall if she could take back what happened, she said yes.
Despite admitting to that, Amariyona Hall and her sister said they are not responsible for the death of their mother and that they were at an aunt’s home when it occurred.
Amariyona Hall also told reporters there was abuse taking place in the home where she and her sister lived. However, the Pike County Sheriff’s Department said it never received any reports of abuse.
Their father, Eddie Isaac, said he is still trying to get to the bottom of what happened the day Erika Hall died.
“It feels good to have them out. A lot of people don’t think they should be, but they are kids. It was a lot. We didn’t come to the bottom of it. There was a lot of stuff we didn’t know. But it’s coming out,” he said.
Children 13 and older accused of certain crimes are automatically charged as adults in Mississippi. Judges can transfer cases to youth court. District Attorney Dee Bates has said he would oppose a transfer.
Amariyona Hall’s attorney has said the defense will be based on a self-defense theory.
“I can tell you that I anticipate my client and her sister are both going to be defended on a theory of self-defense,” lawyer Greg Malta said previously.
Ebony Hall, Ericka Hall’s sister, said one of the girls tried to run over their mother in a car several nights before she was killed.
Pike County Sheriff’s Chief Investigator Chris Bell has testified that the girls confessed to planning the killing in advance, faking a knock at the front door to lure Ericka Hall from her bedroom.
You can watch their interview below.
