Last of 3 Girls Shot by Mother Dies

ST. LOUIS —  The last of the three girls, ranging in age from 1 to 7, who were shot by their mother at the family’s modest apartment has died at a hospital, authorities said Friday.

Police said the circuit attorney’s office would be responsible for altering charges against the mother, Lavenia Goree, 25. She already is charged with two counts of murder in the deaths of two of her daughters.

The eldest daughter, Crystal, 7, died at 8:15 p.m. Thursday at Barnes Hospital. All three girls had been shot in the head with a .22-caliber rifle, police said.

The other girls, Melissa, 1, and Danielle, 4, died a few hours after they were shot Wednesday evening.

“They were such wonderful children,” said Karen Risher, a frequent baby-sitter for the girls. “They were all so happy that day. I will never understand why this happened--never.”

Police said that Goree, a temporary clerical worker for Blue Cross-Blue Shield, is unmarried and that her daughters had different fathers. The woman, whose parents are dead, shared her modest apartment with her brother, Dwight Goree, who was not at home at the time of the shootings.