The desperate pleas of four children echoed through emergency lines as a family dispute turned deadly inside an Indianapolis home just days after a marriage unraveled.
According to the New York Post, police say Cecil Mains, 47, is charged with murdering his wife, Jerri Mains, 44, during a violent confrontation on Dec. 28 that unfolded in front of their children, ages 19, 17, 14, and 10. Officers were dispatched after receiving multiple frantic 911 calls from inside the home as shots rang out.
“My dad is shooting my mom,” one of the children told a dispatcher, according to police. Another child pleaded, “I can’t live without her.”
In a separate call, one of the children described the chaos as it happened. “My dad just shot my mom twice… He shot her in the house and in the driveway,” the caller said.
When officers arrived, Jerri was found wounded in the driveway. She had been shot twice in the chest and was rushed to the hospital, where she later died, police said.
Court documents indicate the shooting came just days after Jerri had forced her husband out of the family home. Investigators say she had recently discovered Mains was cheating and was preparing to leave the marriage.
On Christmas Day, Jerri filed for a protection order against her husband following an alleged assault the night before. According to the filing, Mains struck her with kitchen tongs and threatened to kill her multiple times.
Despite the restraining order, police say Mains returned to the home days later. Investigators allege he entered the house, accessed a firearm that had been locked up, and opened fire on his wife as their children looked on in horror.
After the shooting, Mains fled the scene in a pickup truck. He was arrested a short time later during a traffic stop not far from the home, police said.
“The facts of this case are devastating,” Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said in a statement. “As we move forward with the criminal proceedings, our thoughts remain with Jeri’s four children, who have endured an unthinkable tragedy and are now facing an incredibly difficult journey ahead.”
Mains was formally charged with murder on Tuesday.
In the wake of her death, Jerri was remembered as a fiercely devoted mother. Her obituary described her as the “most devoted mother,” someone who always put her children first.
“She loved her children so much that in everything that she did, she put her children’s consideration first,” the tribute read.
“Jeri loved her family and friends fiercely. She was the person you would want in your corner, as she would do everything for those she cared about.”
