Mom annihilates her 2 daughters and is then labeled a victim by people in her small town after she is found stabbed — until the truth comes out, police say

A Tennessee mother shot her 1-year-old and 11-year-old daughters dead, then tried to stab herself, with the father of the baby finding the "unimaginable" murder scene, according to friends and police.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation announced Monday that Jessica Quarles, Tim Harris' fiancee and mother of his 1-year-old, was charged with first-degree premeditated murder, first-degree felony murder, aggravated child abuse, neglect, or endangerment of a vulnerable child, and aggravated child abuse, neglect, or endangerment of a child 8 and under.

A TBI spokesperson told Law&Crime that Quarles, who was released from the hospital last week after being treated for critical stab wounds, was arrested Monday.

Authorities were called to the family's home in Kenton on June 13 after Harris found his daughter, Landrie Harris, and Quarles' 11-year-old daughter from a previous relationship, McKenna Young, both dead. The children had each been shot.

"To have to see what he saw — he's not going to get that picture out of his head," says Tim Harris' longtime friend, Haley Paige Wilson, who has launched a GoFundMe for the Obion County father.

"He knew it was her," Wilson tells Law&Crime. "There wasn't any other option that it could have been. The way that it happened, he knew."

An investigation was launched that same day by TBI, the Kenton Police Department, the Obion County Sheriff's Office, and the 27th Judicial District Attorney General's Office. Kenton Mayor Danny Jowers told local CBS affiliate WREG at the time, "It was done intentionally. It was no accident," in reference to the shootings.

"On June 13th, at the request of 27th Judicial District Attorney General Colin Johnson, TBI agents joined the Kenton Police Department in investigating the circumstances leading to the shooting deaths," a TBI press release says. "During the course of the investigation, authorities identified Jessica Quarles, the children's mother, as the individual responsible for their murders."

An Obion County grand jury returned an indictment Monday charging Quarles, and she was booked into the Obion County Jail without bond.

"It's unimaginable," Wilson tells Law&Crime. "He [Harris] doesn't understand it at all. He's just devastated. He's numb."

Wilson says she has spoken with Harris several times and seen him since the killings happened, including on Tuesday after the indictment was handed down.

"He just said, 'You never, you never really realize that people could be capable of things like this, especially like your own children,'" she recalls. "He feels a little relief that, you know, that it's out there. That everybody knows what he knows. But at the same time, it doesn't make the weight of what happened any lighter."

One of Quarles' family members, Rickey Dale Alexander, told Law&Crime that her loved ones are "heartbroken" over everything that's happened.

"I just sincerely ask for prayers for all the families involved," he said. "It's about remembering our sweet McKenna and Landrie now. Their lives mattered and they was so loved."

Before the charges were announced, Quarles' family held a candlelight vigil "for Jessica and the girls," according to Alexander. On June 14, Alexander wrote on Facebook, "If you for one second think Jessica Quarles even had an ounce of capability to have anything to do with this situation then you just really don't know her or the situation."

Wilson tells Law&Crime that many people accused Harris of being involved in the killings, with posts and users on Facebook calling him out while Quarles was in the hospital.

"It's been so hard seeing him hurting the way he has been the past couple of weeks," Wilson says. "Not only because of what he had to see, but the way that people have ran his name down. I know he had to feel like everybody was against him. You just never assume that it's going to be the mother. I mean, you just never think that. Being a mom myself, I just can't imagine that thought crossing my mind."

Wilson describes Harris as a "sweetheart" who was "very intentional in showing his love" to Landrie and McKenna.

"McKenna wasn't biologically his, but he loved that girl, and her face lit up every time he was around," Wilson says. "He's so good with kids. And so, it bothered him so much that people would even think for like a split second that he would ever bring harm to any child, much less his own."

Wilson adds, "He considered McKenna his child. He worked overtime to get her a motorized wheelchair, and somebody ended up stealing it. And he put in a lot of extra overtime and found her another one, and she loved that thing."

On Facebook, Quarles described Harris as her fiance after they got engaged in December 2023. She said McKenna had "Fragile X Syndrome, epilepsy, autism, hypotonia, abnormalities of gait and mobility, [and] several other diagnosis" that made things hard at times.

In January 2026, Quarles wrote on Facebook:

Yall, this is the most embarrassing thing ive had to do! We have falling on hard times. We really need help & prayers! Tim got layed off over a month ago & has put in over 60+ applications with no answers back! I've been off work since having Landrie. Mckenna has so many appointments coming up & course bills are due! Everyone falls on hard times! Prayers are definitely appreciated!

In November 2025, Harris posted a status on Facebook saying, "Headed to bed alone for the first time in a long time. Here we go again." He followed up the post with another status hours later saying, "If anyone has heard from Jessie Quarles please message me."

Wilson tells Law&Crime that "drama" was often a "theme" with Quarles.

"She kind of thrived on the drama," Wilson says. "I think there were some things about her that should have been red flags. But hindsight's 20/20. You never think somebody's capable of doing something like this."

Wilson tells Law&Crime that things have been "very emotional" for Harris since the deaths of Landrie and McKenna.

"He was just with my family yesterday and, you know, it's the first time he's been around my little boy since [the killings]," Wilson says. "And I know he was having a hard time, you know, being around kids. It had to have been difficult, to hear a kid laugh. I know he's not ever going to hear his, you know, his kids laugh again. It had to have been hard. But even still, he made it known that he was being present with my little boy. But you could tell he was struggling."

Wilson describes Harris as a "bright light" who is "never going to be the same again" following what happened.

"I just can't imagine being in his shoes," she tells Law&Crime. "When he came in yesterday, he was like a shell of himself. My husband is tough as nails, and I mean, we just all fell apart. Hugging each other, tearing up. You could tell he was just so defeated."

Quarles is scheduled to be arraigned on Monday, July 6, in Obion County Circuit Court.