Virginia Woman Allegedly Killed 6-Year-Old Daughter and Then Called 911

Chris Harris
Updated
Va. Mom Allegedly Said She Killed Daughter to Save Her From Alients

A 27-year-old Virginia mother allegedly fatally shot her 6-year-old daughter, PEOPLE confirms.

Darla Hise called 911 several times on Saturday night, a Bath County law enforcement source tells PEOPLE. But she allegedly refused to provide her name and address, saying only that she thought her daughter had been shot.

Police traced the call and officers were dispatched to Hise’s home, after which deputies found her daughter, Abigail, dead from a single gunshot wound.

• Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.

Authorities have not disclosed where on her body Abigail was shot.

Also inside the home was Hise’s 3-year-old son, who was unharmed. The boy has been placed in the custody of a family member, the police source tells PEOPLE.

After interviewing Hise, detectives placed her in handcuffs. She is charged with one count of murder and remains in custody on an unspecified amount of bail, according to jail records.

Hise has yet to enter a plea and court records do not identify her defense attorney.

Hise had never before been charged with a criminal offense, the police source says.

Hise’s relatives could not be reached for comment.

Detectives are still trying to determine what unfolded inside Hise’s home in the hours before the shooting, and have yet to determine a motive.

• Pick up PEOPLE’s special edition True Crime Stories: Cases That Shocked America, on sale now, for the latest on Casey Anthony, JonBenét Ramsey and more.

The little girl’s killing has rattled the small community of Hot Springs, according to reports.

“It’s something that you don’t expect to happen in a small community at all, so it makes everybody realize they need to hug and love everybody and go to bat for all these families and children and lift them up,” Bath County Supervisor Claire Collins told WHSV.

A well-attended memorial was held Thursday for Abigail, who was known to relatives and friends as Abby, WDBJ reports.

Her obituary states she loved riding her bike, drawing, coloring and playing with her brother.