Destiny Wiggins, Devone Brown.Photo: GoFundMe
On Thursday morning, employees arriving to work at Barnhill Construction, in Rocky Mount, N.C.’s business district, stumbled across a man and woman who had been shot in their parked car, along with two young children alive in the cold backseat, multiple outlets report.
According to ABC11, an employee showing up to work around 6 a.m. saw a vehicle parked in the lot. The witness then noticed the deceased couple in the front.
Upon arriving on the scene, first responders found the unharmed children in the back and rushed them to the hospital for evaluation (temperatures in the area had dipped into the 30s overnight).
Rocky Mount Police Chief Robert Hassell later identified the deceased victims as Destiny Wiggins, 24, and 28-year-old Devone Brown. The relationship between Wiggins and Brown is unclear. The children reportedly belonged to Wiggins.
During a live press conference after the shootings, Chief Hassell said the kids in the car were of “toddler age” and are now in the care of relatives.
Wiggins' sister, Breana Wiggins, told CBS 17 that Destiny was the mother of two girls and two boys. “She loved to do hair and she loved her babies and family,” Breana told the outlet.
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An area residenttold ABC11she hoped the children had been unaware of what happened in the car, saying, “I just hope that they were just asleep and slept through it.”
Eric Coley.Rocky Mount Police Department
Relatives of Wiggins have launched a GoFundMe for her funeral expenses. “I am asking for all family, friends, loved ones and anyone who can to donate to help us to bury my daughter,” Wiggins' motherwrote.
PEOPLE reached out to the Rocky Mount Police Chief for comment but did not immediately hear back.
Coley is being held without bond. It is unknown whether he has a lawyer who can comment on his behalf. He was due to appear in court this morning, and it’s not clear if he has entered a plea.
source: people.com
