A Moberly woman is now facing multiple charges of child endangerment stemming from the accidental shooting death of an 11-year-old last month.

Prosecutors in Randolph County accuse 37-year-old Jo Marie Timmons of repeatedly leaving her children ages seven to 12 home alone while she went to work. According to a probable cause statement, Timmons had done so the afternoon of Jan. 18, when she left to collect her paycheck. The statement says that Timmons received a call from one of her daughters, saying that an unknown vehicle had pulled into the driveway and they were hiding in one of their bedrooms. She would receive another call five minutes later, saying that one of the children had been shot. The 11-year-old was taken to a hospital for medical care, but did not survive.

Randolph County deputies who responded to the shooting wrote in their statement that they encountered an overwhelming smell of human waste, with trash and dirty dishes collecting throughout the house and cockroaches present. According to the statement, the children in the house told deputies that Timmons had regularly left them alone when she went to work, and showed two of them where a handgun was stored and how to operate it. One of the children went on to say that she had grabbed the handgun when the unknown vehicle arrived and checked to see if the safety was on, but did not verify if it was loaded. Further interviews by deputies led to witnesses who say that the house had been in that condition since 2020, and that Timmons did not accept help to address the issues.

Timmons was arrested Thursday and charged with one count of endangering the welfare of a child resulting in death and four additional counts of child endangerment. She’s being held in the Randolph County Jail without bond, pending her arraignment Monday afternoon.