A close friend of an Arizona grandmother arrested for allegedly killing her twin grandsons said that she was shocked by the news as neighbors also reacted.
Dorothy Flood, 55, was found unresponsive from an apparent overdose on April 4 at her house in Tucson. First responders found the two 8-year-olds shot dead.
Flood, the children’s grandmother and guardian, was arrested on premeditated first-degree murder and booked into Pima County Jail. She was granted guardianship of the kids after their mother passed away on Feb. 18, 2018, officials said.
After the arrest, a friend said she was stunned to learn of the accusations.
Here are photos of 8-year-old twins Jaden and Jorden Webb, two little boys taken too soon. Their grandmother is charged with their murder -> https://bit.ly/2OQA09iSource: Facebook/Kristen Webb
Posted by Melissa Egan KOLD on Friday, April 5, 2019
GRANDMOTHER CHARGED WITH MURDER: Dorothy Flood is facing two first degree murder charges in the shooting deaths of her twin grandsons.
She made her initial court appearance tonight.
Here’s what we know: pic.twitter.com/F3yUofyZVK
— Natalie Tarangioli (@ntarangioli) April 6, 2019
“My first reaction was of course no. It could not be the same Dorothy we knew,” Chandra McCord told KOLD, noting that she and Flood became close after the latter lost her husband in 2014.
A few years later, the twins’ mother, Flood’s daughter, committed suicide.
“You could see the fear that she had of the future.” said McCord. “She was afraid she wasn’t going to be able to handle it.”
Flood quit her job to take care of the twins, McCord said, giving her all to take care of them. According to McCord, Flood had a medical condition that may have affected her brain.
“Somewhere, something snapped,” McCord said.
#BREAKING: Two children found dead in a home here off Kessler Place. PCSD is now saying signs of trauma – may not have been shot.
No suspect in custody, PCSD is not releasing info on who killed the children. @KOLDNews pic.twitter.com/boKfo1pNMh
— Melissa Egan (@_MelissaEgan) April 4, 2019
UPDATE: 55-year-old Dorothy Flood charged with two counts of first-degree murder after two children were found dead in a west side home yesterday.
A neighbor told me last night a ‘Dorothy’ “took care of them real good.” -> https://t.co/6v9xCoGHLi pic.twitter.com/iCavpWx6iZ
— Melissa Egan (@_MelissaEgan) April 5, 2019
She and other friends told the broadcaster that they wanted the accused killer to know they still support her.
A neighbor who said he had lived on the same street for more than 40 years said that the deaths of the children shook him, calling what happened “eerie.”
“They kept more to themselves,” the man, who declined to give his name, told WAFB. “They would wave ‘hi’ or ‘bye,’ but they kept to themselves. See them every day, they were good kids. They didn’t talk, but they were good kids. She took care of them real good.”
The neighbor said the twins had special needs.
Another neighbor said, “It’s a sickening feeling, especially when it comes to kids. Life is precious and nobody should take someone else’s life, especially kids.”
Ruth Parra, another longtime resident, added, “It’s heartbreaking. I never imagined children, really did not think of children.”
“You are breathless when something like this happens, you think of grandchildren, great-grandchildren,” Parra told KVOA. She said that she called home to check on her 20-year-old daughter.
“Make sure she had everything locked up because I was worried about the security, safety for her. It’s crazy. I just don’t know what happened and I feel so sad for the family,” she said.
