A case that has shaken Jefferson County for months moved forward this week as a Missouri mother entered a new plea in the deaths of her two children.
On Wednesday, 36-year-old Ashley Parmeley of Pevely pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to charges of first-degree murder. Prosecutors say Parmeley confessed last May to fatally shooting her 9-year-old daughter, Scarlet, and drowning her 2-year-old son at a nearby resort.
The story is almost unbearable in its details. Authorities say Parmeley shot Scarlet in neighboring St. Francois County, placed her body in the family car, and then drove to a resort in Jefferson County. There, investigators believe she drowned her young son in a fountain before driving straight to the Festus Police Department, where she told officers what she had done.
When police searched the vehicle, they discovered Scarlet’s body in the back seat. Officers quickly began looking for a third child, who was later found safe. Jefferson County Sheriff Dave Marshak described the ordeal as one of the most harrowing crimes the community had ever witnessed.
Parmeley was initially charged with second-degree murder and ordered held without bond. But in the months since, the legal focus has shifted to her mental state. According to court records, there have been two different evaluations of Parmeley’s mental state at the time. Both independent investigations concluded that she was incapable of understanding the wrongfulness of her actions.
The dueling evaluations—both aligning in their findings—led a Jefferson County judge to order that Parmeley be committed to the Missouri Department of Mental Health. That commitment does not resolve the case, but it changes the focus of the trial to Parmeley’s mental health.
For residents of Jefferson County, the case remains an open wound. Parmeley’s sudden appearance at the police station that morning in May 2024, her clothes still wet, left officers stunned. The killings hit a primal nerve in the community, and there’s no doubt that this open wound will continue to fester as Parmeley’s case works its way through the judicial system.
Parmeley’s new plea begins the slow process of determining her mental well-being now and at the time of the murders. Most of this will likely hinge on expert testimony about her mental health, but now the question is less if Parmeley was capable of committing the crimes and more if she was capable of understanding what she was doing.
