What began as a Christmas Eve celebration in a quiet Minnesota home ended in bloodshed, leaving a young mother dead on her birthday and the father of her children facing a murder charge.

Authorities say Tatianna Marie Ehnes-Giles, 26, was fatally shot inside her home in Castle Rock on Dec. 24 — the same day she turned 26. Deputies with the Dakota County Sheriff’s Office responded to the residence after a frantic 911 call and found a scene that quickly unraveled a grim story.

Demarco Marquie Jones, 29, the father of Ehnes-Giles’ two children, was arrested in connection with her death and has been charged with second-degree intentional murder, according to the Dakota County Attorney’s Office.

When deputies arrived at the home, they found Jones at the top of the stairs on the second floor, with blood on his hands and the back of his head. Authorities said he was conscious and able to speak, informing officers that a firearm was inside one of the rooms.

Ehnes-Giles and Jones lived on the second floor of the home with their children, while her mother and brothers lived downstairs.

According to a criminal complaint cited by the St. Paul Pioneer Press, it was one of Ehnes-Giles’ children who first alerted the family that something was wrong. The child ran downstairs after hearing a loud noise and demonstrated it by banging on the wall twice. Both children then told their grandmother, “Daddy fell.”

When the grandmother rushed upstairs, she found Jones on the floor, groaning and claiming that Ehnes-Giles had shot him. But that version of events quickly collapsed. Investigators say Jones later admitted that he had shot Ehnes-Giles.

The complaint alleges that the mother then found her daughter “covered in blood, with her hands in front of her face as if she was protecting herself.”

The shooting was initially investigated as a possible murder-suicide, according to earlier reporting by KSTP, but that characterization was not included in the latest statement from prosecutors. The current status of that line of inquiry remains unclear.

Ehnes-Giles was remembered by family as a devoted mother, daughter, and sister who loved bonfires, the Fourth of July, and joking around with her siblings, according to her online obituary.

Jones’ bail has been set at $2 million. Authorities said he is currently receiving medical treatment at a hospital and will be transferred to the county jail once cleared. It is not yet known whether he has retained an attorney. He is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 5.

A GoFundMe has been created to help support Ehnes-Giles’ children as the investigation — and the legal case — moves forward.