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Two children found dead in northeast Georgia home
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BETHLEHEM, Ga. — Authorities were searching Thursday for a mother they described as a person of interest in the stabbing deaths of her children and a suspect in the beating of her father at the family’s home in northeast Georgia.
    Barrow County sheriff’s Maj. Murray Kogod said the children’s mother, Felicia Williams, was wanted for aggravated assault in the case. Kogod said Williams was at the home where the crimes took place and could have information on the stabbings.
    Kogod identified the slain children as Elexis Nicole Hill, 9, and her 4-year-old brother, James Ross Hill.
    Williams’ father was also found injured in the home Wednesday after authorities traced a 911 call.
    The children’s paternal grandfather, Willie Hill, identified the injured man as Charles Barn.
    ‘‘It’s devastating for my wife and me,’’ Willie Hill said. He said his son separated from Williams three or four years ago.
    County dispatchers received a call shortly after 5 p.m. Wednesday, and although no one was on the other end of the line, the connection remained open and the dispatcher heard someone in the background saying someone was bleeding, Kogod said.
    The two children were pronounced dead at the scene, and the man was treated but declined transport to the hospital, Kogod said.
    The crime scene is in a residential area about five miles outside of Bethlehem, 40 miles northeast of Atlanta.
    On Thursday, crime scene tape was stretched across the front yard and police vehicles were parked outside the small brown frame house. A child’s bicycle lay in the front yard, and a basketball goal and gazebo stood out front.
    Relatives and neighbors were stunned.
    ‘‘They just had a great and beautiful Christmas,’’ said Tamara Williams, 38, of Monroe, Ga., sister of Felicia Williams. She said the children’s grandparents had given the youngsters four-wheelers for Christmas.
    ‘‘They were good kids, smart kids,’’ she said. ‘‘They sang in church. They could sing so good, both of them, every Sunday.’’
    Next-door neighbor Michael Howard, 20, said he did not learn of the crimes until he woke up Thursday morning.
    ‘‘I played with them, they were good kids,’’ he said. ‘‘We got on four-wheelers and rode around the front yard.’’
    Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman John Bankhead said the GBI is assisting in the case. He referred all questions to Barrow County authorities.
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