Sex offender killed by teenage niece

10-22-2013 Georgia:

Child charged with murder, held at youth detention center

A convicted sex offender was stabbed to death by her 14-year-old niece.

Monday night, paramedics found the body of 49-year-old Shirley Elaine Mack on the kitchen floor of her small brick home on Scott Store Road just north of Midville.

She appeared to have a single stab wound to her chest.

The child accused of killing Mack had been living in the house along with four younger children.

“It appears that they got into some kind of argument and the girl got a knife and stabbed (Mack),” Sheriff Greg Coursey said, noting a 911 call was received around 8:30 p.m.

Although the child’s name has not been released, the sheriff confirmed the 14-year-old is being held at a youth detention center in Sandersville. GBI Special Agent Pat Morgan told The True Citizen she is charged with murder and possession of a knife during the commission of a crime.

Chief Investigator Sgt. Dedric Smith of the Burke County Sheriff ’s Office is imploring the media to cover the news story “with integrity” for the sake of the victim’s family, including the young children who were in the home when Mack died.

“Regardless of what has happened we have four other kids we have to be concerned about,” he said, noting they have been placed in a foster home. “They have already been traumatized enough and are just trying to cope. Their lives have been changed forever regardless of the outcome of this situation.”

While deputies are trying to determine exactly what transpired between the aunt and niece Monday night, they are also trying to determine if Mack was legally permitted to have children in her home.

Mack, who has several aliases including the first name “Sherry” and last name “Bush,” has a 1990 conviction for lewd and lascivious acts on a child under 16. She was living in Florida at the time, where sex offender sentencing differs substantially from Georgia’s. ..Source.. by Elizabeth Billips