Three sisters who were found dead in their neighbor’s private pond in Texas in 2022 were strangled to death before being abandoned in the water, investigators concluded.
Officials first found the bodies of Zi’Ariel Oliver, 9, Amiyah Hughes, 8, and Temari Oliver, 5, on July 30 and reported their death as tragic drownings, The Daily Beast reported.
According to the latest information, however, Cass County District Attorney Courtney Shelton said the sisters had “lacerations” on their faces and they all died by strangulation.
Paris Propps, the girls’ cousin, reported them missing around 9 p.m. on July 29, 2022, CBS 19 reported. Propps was watching the three girls and their three other siblings while their mother was at work.
The bodies of the missing siblings were found around 3 a.m. the following morning.
“This was so unexpected and a big hurt and shock to myself and my family,” Shommaonique Oliver-Wickerson, the girls’ mother, wrote on her GoFundMe page in 2022. “We are now asking for help to lay my sweet angles to rest.”
Shelton said the investigation will continue with her office as well as the Texas Rangers and sheriff’s office.
“Multiple witness statements have been obtained, DNA testing is ongoing, and the investigation will continue,” Shelton said according to the Daily Mail.
