Coroner: Mother, daughter die in murder-suicide

Butler County Coroner Andy Moore reports the deaths of a Poplar Bluff woman and her infant daughter were a murder-suicide.

The deceased have been identified as Angela Lemonds, 31, and her 6-month-old daughter, Brooklynn Lemonds.

“With the evidence at the scene and the result from the autopsies, we have determined that the incident on Sunday was a murder-suicide,” Moore said.

Deputies with the Butler County Sheriff’s Department and troopers from the Missouri State Highway Patrol responded to Lemonds home in the 100 block of Township Line Road after a 911 call reporting a shooting was received by the Poplar Bluff Police Department at 9:29 a.m., said Sheriff Mark Dobbs.

Upon arrival, Dobbs said, authorities found both mother and daughter had suffered gunshot wounds.

Moore said he pronounced Angela Lemonds dead at the scene at about 10 a.m.

“I went to the emergency room for the child,” said Moore, who pronounced Brooklynn Lemonds dead at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center.

Autopsies were performed Monday on Angela Lemonds and her daughter by Dr. Russell Deidiker at Farmington, said Moore.

The findings from the autopsies, he said, are not being released at this time as the investigation is ongoing.

Dobbs said the investigation is being handled by his office and the patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control.

Further details are not being released at this time, Dobbs said.

Southern Bank has established an account to receive money from a GoFundMe account on behalf of Austin Lemonds to honor the memory of his deceased daughter, Brooklynn. Donations can be made through any teller at any branch.