Woman Jumps To Death With Her Baby From Interstate Highway Overpass

KEY POINTS

Deputies got a call from a driver who said a "large object" had fallen from the bridge
Before jumping from the bridge, the woman crashed her car into a gas pump
Her grandmother said Barker lost her job last month and had been depressed

A Tennessee woman jumped off an interstate highway overpass with her 21-month-old son in the early hours of Monday. Authorities said both the mother and the child died in the incident.

Madison County Sheriff's Office identified the woman as 26-year-old Tonisha Lashay Barker. The sheriff's deputies got a call Monday from a driver who said a "large object" had fallen from the bridge and struck his truck. He was traveling westbound on Interstate 40. The officials reached the area and found the bodies of Barker and her son, Johnathan Jones, on the roadway, ABC-TV affiliate television station WBBJ reported.

Sometime before the driver's call, the deputies received another call about a crash at the Shell Station on Law Road, just south of exit 93 on I-40. Eyewitnesses told officials that a woman attempted to ram her car into the gas pump and after the crash, she got out of the vehicle with a child. She then walked to an interstate overpass and disappeared. Officials said it was a suicide bid.

"It's heartbreaking to have that situation this morning, especially when someone loses their life. It's hard on everybody, especially the driver of the vehicle. It's just a bad situation that we hate to ever receive," Madison County Sheriff John Mehr told the television station.

Barker, a resident of Memphis, was working at a COVID-19 test site till last month. Her grandmother said Barker had been depressed after she lost her job.

Police are investigating the motive for the suicide. The Tennessee Highway Patrol and the Madison County Fire Department are assisting in the investigation.

In an earlier case of maternal filicide, a woman shot her twin daughters before killing herself in Washington. Police said the mother, Michele Deegan, shot the 7-year-old girls while they were sleeping. She then turned the gun on herself. Preliminary investigation revealed Deegan was involved in a custody dispute, which could be the primary motive behind the incident. The bodies of the victims were found inside the bedroom.

If you have thoughts of suicide, confidential help is available for free at the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Call 1-800-273-8255. The line is available 24 hours, every day.