A 29-year-old mother has been arrested in connection with the shooting deaths of her two daughters, ages 5 and 7, at a home outside of Payne Springs, according to the Henderson County Sheriff's Office.
Sarah Nicole Henderson, of Mabank, was charged with two counts of capital murder and is being held on a $2 million bond.
Deputies say they got a call Wednesday night from Henderson's husband that claimed she was suicidal. He's the stepfather of her children, Kaylee and Kenlie.
When Henderson County deputies got to the scene, the couple told deputies everything was fine.
“No one was in any danger. No one was suicidal, no signs of violence, no signs of anything,” said Henderson County Sheriff Botie Hillhouse.
Deputies left the house. Three hours later they got another call from Henderson’s husband saying she had walked into the living room where the girls were sleeping and shot them.
"The only thing she told us was that she had smoked some marijuana early in the evening. She was very blunt. We just don’t have any answers as to why,” said Sheriff Hillhouse.
The girls' murders have been emotional for neighbors.
Late in the evening, two women brought some stuffed animals and placed them under a tree near the home. Then they said a prayer.
“I just asked God to cuddle them and love them, and put his hands around them up there,” said Jackie Nelms.
Jaylyne Palmer wants people to know 7-year-old Kaylee and 5-year-old Kenlie were special little girls.
“Those little girls were so adorable. They would draw pictures for us and put them in the mailbox for us,” said Palmer.
Palmer and her husband live right across the street from the home, where the sisters were shot and killed.
“We both had chills all over when we heard about it," she said.
A family member told WFAA that Henderson had been acting erratically in the last couple of weeks, but no one imagined this would happen. Deputies say hours before the shootings, she was talking about people being after her.
"There is no reason for this. How could someone do this to them?” asked Nelms.
WFAA has learned that in 2010, Child Protective Services did investigate Sarah Henderson, but the information is confidential.
"The family has had previous contact with CPS in 2010 but not recently," said Marissa Gonzales, a spokeswoman with CPS. "Details of those interactions are confidential."
”You just heard her yelling at the kids all the time. Really loud,” said Palmer.
Payne Springs is located about 62 miles southeast of the city of Dallas.