HAGERSTOWN, Md. — Newly obtained court documents reveal more details about a shooting that killed a mother and her young daughter in a Hagerstown hotel room.
Officers with the Hagerstown Police Department responded to the APM Inn and Suites on Dual Highway late Wednesday afternoon when they found the bodies of 40-year-old Elise Wars and her 4-year-old daughter Khori Ashton.
Police arrested 22-year-old Javon Hines in the Baltimore area the next day. He faces multiple charges including two counts of first-degree murder.
Documents from the District Court for Washington County said the victims were lying in bed when they were shot in the head by Hines. It's unclear if they were asleep at the time.
There were no signs of a disturbance, break-in or struggle, according to prosecutors. The motive is still unknown.
Friends identified Hines to police as Wars' boyfriend. Loved ones say the two had only been dating for a few weeks.
"He doesn't have a conscience because anybody that takes the life of a four-year-old innocent baby is a monster," Shannon Williams, the victim's friend, said. "People show you they want you to see, so if he showed her he was a bad person, she wouldn't have allowed him around her daughter."
Hines appeared through a video call for his first court appearance on Friday. A judge denied his request for a higher bond amount or release with supervision.
His public defender argued there was no direct evidence linking him to the shooting.
In the court documents, the victims were last seen alive on hotel surveillance cameras on Monday night. Hines was carrying the little girl as all three walked into the hotel room.
An unidentified woman was seen entering the room but leaving roughly 10 minutes later.
Prosecutors said about 11 hours later, Hines could be seen walking out suspiciously, wearing a mask, and removing numerous items using a luggage cart.
Family and friends planned a vigil at the Mullinix Park in Frederick at 6 p.m. on Friday.
"She reformatted her whole life around Khori," Williams added. "Everything that she did was for her."
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