Lowcountry mother arrested for drowning child, attempting to drown another, sheriff’s office says

BEAUFORT COUNTY, S.C. (WTOC) - A St. Helena Island mother has been arrested and is accused of drowning a child and attempting to drown another.

According to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, 37-year-old Jamie Michele Bradley-Brun has been charged with murder and attempted murder.

The sheriff’s office said it responded to a home on Sam Doyle Drive at approximately 1:25 a.m. Friday. During a news conference Friday afternoon, Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner said that a 16-year-old, who is also Bradley-Brun’s daughter, called 911 saying that her mother was trying to kill her sister.

When investigators arrived, they say they detained Brun and later found the body of her 6-year-old daughter, Mackaya Bradley-Brun. An autopsy performed by the Beaufort County Coroner’s Office on Friday confirmed the 6-year-old’s cause of death was drowning.

Sheriff Tanner said the 16-year-old was woken up by the screams of her 8-year-old sister calling for help. He said the 16-year-old was able to take the 8-year-old to safety in a nearby family residence.

“That’s what she encountered when she woke up. Entered the bathroom where the screams were coming from and witnessed what she witnessed. My hat’s off to the 16-year-old girl, challenged with such an unbelievable incident and in your own home involving your own family members. And have the ability to do what she did, so I think she needs to be respected for that,” Sheriff Tanner said.

The sheriff said that deputies had to use a taser on Jamie Bradley-Brun after they said she tried to take a deputy’s weapon.

The 16-year-old and 8-year-old sisters are staying with family in Beaufort County.

The investigation is ongoing. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division’s Special Victim’s Unit-Department of Child Fatalities is working alongside the sheriff’s office in the investigation.

The Beaufort County sheriff spoke at a news conference on Friday afternoon. You can watch a full replay below:

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