UPDATE: Clarke County mourns mother, child shot and killed at home

Editor’s note: News 5 has updated this article to include that a neighbor helped sheriff’s deputies enter the Mary Aquilla Road home.

UPDATE (6 p.m. April 7): News 5 has learned that the 11-year-old girl found with a gunshot wound in a Clarke County home is now in surgery to remove the bullet.

Her family says she is strong and believes that she will recover.

Ashley Howell, the girl’s 39-year-old mother, worked at the Pizza Hut in Jackson where customers came in Monday to pay their respects and share their memories.

“I met Ashley right here at this table every Monday morning, we would sit right here and talk,” customer Melesia Taylor said.

Jyshun Taylor is Howell’s Nephew. He tells WKRG News 5 that Howell’s family never liked Edward Raine, the 43-year-old accused of shooting and killing her and her 8-year-old son.

“We already knew something was going to happen eventually. My grandma has been calling my auntie since Friday. She never got a response,” Taylor said.

He says the two dated for years, but signs of abuse were always present.

“We wanted to do that man something so bad so many times, but we couldn’t; my auntie wouldn’t let us, she loved the man so bad,” Taylor said.

Clarke County Sheriff DeWayne Smith says the two were in an on again and off again relationship, and law enforcement had been called multiple times regarding their relationship.

Court records show Raine had at least six domestic violence arrests dating back to 2005. Five of those cases were dismissed, one resulted in a guilty plea for domestic violence assault.

Not all arrests were in connection with Howell.

 “If you are in a domestic situation that turns violent, don’t go back to it. Turn and walk the other way. We will do everything we can to get you out of that situation, but whatever you do. Do not go back. Do not go back,” Smith said.

Howell’s customers say they would’ve never guessed something was wrong behind closed doors.

“I was really devastated, I mean I can’t even imagine that happening to Ashley, like I said, she was such a dear, spirited wonderful lady,” customer Marciana Williams said.

Sheriff Smith is urging the community to focus their prayers on the 11-year-old girl as she has a long road to recovery.

UPDATE (April 7, 11:15 a.m.): The Clarke County Sheriff’s Office has provided more information about an apparent double homicide suicide.

In a news release shared with News 5, the sheriff’s office identified the victims as Ashley Danielle Howell, a 39-year-old woman, and her children, an 8-year-old and an 11-year-old.

Sunday around 8 a.m., deputies responded to her home on Mary Aquilla Road in the Whatley community for a welfare check, according to the release.

“A neighbor was able to gain entrance to her residence…,” the release said.

LOCATION:

They found an 11-year-old girl who had been shot but was alive. The girl was taken to Grove Hill Hospital and was transferred to a trauma center in Mobile, where she is in serious condition, the release said.

Officers then found Howell and her 8-year-old son dead of gunshot wounds, the release said.

Edward Bernard Raine, 43, was also found dead from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot to the head, the release said.

“Our hearts and prayers go out to the family of Ashley Danielle Howell…,” a CCSO spokesperson said, noting “the tragedy is still under investigation.”

The Clarke County Sheriff’s Office, Jackson, Grove Hill and Thomasville police departments, and the First Judicial Major Crimes Task Force are investigating the case, according to the release.

“The Clarke County School Board is involved and will have counselors at the schools where the kids attended,” the release said. “We ask that you please focus your prayers on Ms. Ashley’s daughter and her recovery.

“In addition, please remember the family and community who are still (mourning) this loss.”

PREVIOUS REPORTING

CLARKE COUNTY, Ala. (WKRG) — The Clarke County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the shooting deaths of three people, News 5 has learned.

Sheriff’s deputies reportedly arrived around 8 a.m. Sunday to a home on Old Line Road in the Whatley community, west of Grove Hill. 

There, deputies found three people, including a man, a woman, and a child, dead.

Another child was found shot and was taken to the hospital, where they are in critical condition, according to the sheriff. 

The sheriff has not released names. 

But he told News 5 he thinks the man shot the woman, then shot her two small children before turning the gun on himself.

This story is developing. News 5 will update this article as more information becomes available.