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Mom charged in daughter’s death says they had pact

Authorities say the woman told officials that she and her daughter suffered mental illness and wanted to die

The Associated Press

SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah woman who says she made a suicide pact with her 18-year-old daughter before killing her has been charged with murder.

Prosecutors filed the charge Thursday against 52-year-old Mary Ethyl Hansen of West Jordan in the March 22 death of Virginia Ray Hansen.

Police say a neighbor called 911 after Mary Hansen came to the neighbor’s house and said she shot her daughter. When police arrived, they found the mother with a gunshot wound to her head and the daughter’s body in the home.

The mother survived the attempted suicide. Authorities say she told officials that she and her daughter suffered mental illness and wanted to die.

Mary Hansen has been booked into the Salt Lake County jail. It’s not clear whether she has an attorney.