A 33-year-old mother accused of killing her two young daughters with a hatchet and then trying to kill herself told investigators that a ghost killed her children, according to a warrant.
On Saturday, Patel's husband, Lalji Patel, returned home from work to find his daughters, 7-year-old Jiya and 4-year-old Piya, dead and their mother seriously injured.
Police said Naiyana Patel struck herself in the head repeatedly with the hatchet after she killed the girls.
Relatives said the children's funeral is planned Thursday.
Community in mourning
Shelly Webb, pastor of Oakley United Methodist Church, is organizing the community event at Oakley Elementary.
Naiyana Gauri Patel, 33, was recovering from self-inflicted injuries at Mission Hospital. She repeatedly hit herself in the head with the hatchet used to kill 8-year-old Jiya and 4-year-old Piya Patel.
At the hospital, Naiyana Patel told police Saturday that “the ghost killed her children,” according to an officer’s statement in a search warrant for the Patel home. Buncombe County Schools on Monday had a crisis response team at Oakley Elementary, where Jiya Patel was a second-grader.
Laji Patel, Naiyana's husband, returned to the family's East Ashville home at approximately 10:00 am Saturday to discover his injured wife and daughters. Sitting in her hospital bed, Naiyana Patel, 33, told police Saturday that “the ghost killed her children,” according to an officer's statement obtained by the Asheville Citizen-Times. Naiyana Patel is charged with two counts of first degree murder.