Claudena Helton: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

claudena helton

Claudena Helton mug shot.

Claudena Helton, a mother in Dayton, Ohio, is accused of shooting her two young children in the head, and then dragging their bloody bodies outside into the front yard.

The horrific crime unfolded on May 18. Killed in the shooting were 8-year-old Khmorra Helton and 6-year-old Kenden Helton, reports CBS. The children were fighting for their lives the day after the double shooting. However, on May 21, it was announced that both had died.

Shocked neighbors witnessed the aftermath of the shootings.

Here’s what you need to know:


1. The Mother Is Accused of Shooting Both Children Inside the Home

After allegedly shooting the two children in the head, Helton, 30, is accused of dragging “their bloody bodies outside,” according to The Dayton Daily News.

Cleveland.com reports that “when officers arrived, the two children were in the front lawn of the home and people were performing life-saving measures.”

“This is one of the toughest,” Dayton police Chief Richard Biehl said, according to the newspaper.

The shootings occurred around 10 a.m.


2. Neighbors Reported Helton Was Standing Outside the Home Without Clothes

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The bizarre scene didn’t end there. Neighbors said Helton was walking around outside naked.

A neighbor told WHIO “she saw a woman standing outside the home without any clothes on as officers were arriving.”

“She just stared at me,” the neighbor said. “I yelled to the neighbor to give me a sheet and I covered her up.”


3. Helton Was Previously Accused of Child Endangerment

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Three years ago, authorities investigated child abuse in the home.

WHIO-TV found records of a February 2014, incident “in which Dayton police investigated injuries Khmorra allegedly suffered while at the home” where the double shooting occurred, reported the television station.

A teacher had “noticed that Khmorra, then 5, had bruises on her arms and was telling other children the bruises hurt,” a police report obtained by WHIO said.

The girl had swelling and marks on her cheek, a cut lip, a bruise on her chest, and a discolored thigh, reported WHIO, and she told the teacher and investigators “that her mother hit her with the buckle end of a belt.”

But the mother”rushed past the school’s front desk and went to her 3-year-old son’s classroom, where police found her putting on his coat and getting him ready to leave,” the report said, according to WHIO.

The mother said “she was going to jail and needed to take her kids somewhere first,” reports WHIO, and officials allowed the child to go home with an aunt. It’s not clear what happened with the case after that point.


4. Police Recovered a Glock at the Scene

Police say that Helton was booked into jail on two charges of felonious assault. The charges could be upgraded if the children die.

The police chief said that “a Glock Model 43 9mm gun plus shell casings and bullet fragments were found inside the home,” The Dayton Daily News reported.


5. Another Child Was Inside the Home at the Time & One Child Was Being Home Schooled

An 11-year-old girl was also inside the home when the shootings occurred, but she was not harmed.

The police chief said that one of the children was recently removed from school for home schooling, the Dayton Daily News reported.

Helton doesn’t appear to have much of a presence on social media. Her Facebook page is blank.