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Jessica Arrendale dies shielding daughter from boyfriend with gun

The police don't know how Arrendale was able to twist her body into a protective position after being shot in the head.

By Aileen Graef
Jessica Arrendale/Facebook
Jessica Arrendale/Facebook

ATLANTA, Sept. 23 (UPI) -- Jessica Arrendale, 33, died Sunday while shielding her daughter, Cobie, from the baby's gun-wielding father Antoine Davis.

Arrendale was out on a date with her baby's father, Antoine Davis, when he became belligerent and abusive. When they returned home, Arrendale ran through the three-story townhouse to get away from Davis.

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Arrendale attempted to defend herself with a baseball bat but Davis, a former Marine, overpowered her and beat her several times with it. Six-month-old Cobie was also suspected to have been hit as she sustained a traumatic head injury.

Arrendale locked herself and her daughter in the bathroom. Davis then got his rifle, which was outfitted with a suppressor, broke into the bathroom and shot Arrendale in the head. Police suspect he intended to kill the baby as well but didn't see her drop in the toilet. Davis covered Arrendale's body, walked into the nursery and shot himself.

"She was the hero," Arrendale's mother, Teresa Ionniello, told WSB Radio, "because her last breath was saving the child."

Police, who tried to negotiate with Davis to come out, breached the doors and found the bodies. They found Cobie in the toilet and rushed her to Children's Health Care of Atlanta at Scottish Rite Hospital where she is being treated for hypothermia and a head injury.

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Arrendale is survived by Cobie and her 15-year-old daughter who had been living with Ionniello.

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