Patcharapol Panrak
A grief-stricken teen mother shot and killed herself
after discovering she’d accidentally suffocated her 1-year-old daughter
while sleeping.
Apiwan Pengskool, 18, was discovered lying next to
daughter Supatchaya in her mother’s Najomtien home Dec. 22. Forensics
experts ruled out homicide in both deaths, saying Apiwan shot herself
once in the head with a .38-caliber pistol and that the toddler
suffocated when her mother’s leg crushed her abdomen.
Apiwan’s mother, Apiradee Anantirasart, said the teen
was a restless sleeper. Ironically, she said she’d half-joked with her
daughter not to sleep with Supatchaya for fear one day she’d suffocate
the girl. Sadly, the prophesy came true.
Apiradee said daughter and granddaughter were alive
and well earlier in the day. She then left for two hours to go to the
market and returned to find the gruesome scene.
Police determined that Apiwan, upon waking and
discovering her daughter dead, had procured the Smith & Wesson handgun
after breaking into a storage closet with a hammer. Apiradee, thinking
her offspring were still sleeping, didn’t disturb the girls after she
returned from the market.
Only when the nap ran longer than usual did the
grandmother check on the girl and discover what had happened.
