Jessica Arrendale and her 6-month-old baby, Cobie, were pitted against a terrifying scenario when her drunk husband became belligerent and attacked her on Saturday evening, New York Daily News has learned.
The 33-year-old Georgia mom was reportedly shot into the head by her 30-year-old husband, Antoine Davis, during a tense and escalating fight.
However, despite being fatally wounded, Jessica Arrendale managed to do one last motherly act and that is to save her baby by hiding her from her abusive husband.
According to several sources, the dying mother slid her baby into a toilet and threw herself over the bowl to completely conceal the tyke from the harm that her husband was capable of perpetrating.
Jessica Arrendale's mother, Teresa Ionniello told WSB Radio that sadly her daughter was attacked by her drunken husband when they returned home after eating dinner outside.
Davis, who was totally drunk at the time, became belligerent, so Jessica quickly tried to defend herself while holding their baby.
Arrendale used a baseball bat as defense but her abusive husband took it from her and even struck her several times before she managed to run into the bathroom with their baby.
When she got there, she quickly locked the door, but her former Marine husband took an assault rifle and beat down the door before shooting Jessica Arrendale in the head.
"He shot her and they (police) don't know how she was able to twist her body and fall literally in the opposite direction," Jessica's mom said, noting that instead of falling onto the floor, her daughter fell over the toilet, dropping their little Cobie into the bowl before falling on top of it.
Davis reportedly shot himself to death as well when police started to gather outside.
Prior to which, authorities requested Jessica Arrendale's neighbors to evacuate their homes as safety precaution during the standoff, noted the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Authorities didn't know at first that the 6-month-old infant was alive, and they only discovered where Cobie was 13 hours later when they stormed every part of the home.
Police said the baby has a traumatic head injury and they believed that it was caused by the baseball bat.
Cobie was rushed to the hospital for her treatment for hypothermia and for the serious head injury, reported Daily Mail.
Nevertheless, Jessica Arrendale's mother was proud of her daughter for being so selfless even during her last breath.
"She was the hero," Ionniello quipped, "because her last breath was saving the child."
Follow-up reports revealed that aside from Cobie, Davis's two daughters, ages 9 and 10, from a previous marriage, were also inside the home when the tragic incident happened.
The mother of Davis's other kids, Tamaira Chelsey, said that she's not sure where her former husband's depression came from, but she revealed that Jessica and Antoine were actually in a custody battle over their little girl at the time.
Cobie is currently staying at Children's Health care of Atlanta at Scottish Rite Hospital. Once she's fully recovered, she will be under the custody of Jessica Arrendale's mother.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
