Minnesota Nurse and Her Two Sons Found Dead in Inver Grove Heights Home; Police Suspect Double Murder-Suicide

Jamie Lee Charles and her teen son, William Samuel Shaw Jr., were found dead in their Inver Grove Heights home on Sunday.Jamie Charles / Facebook

A Minnesota family and the wider Inver Grove Heights community are mourning after a 43-year-old nurse and her two adult sons were found dead inside their townhouse, with investigators saying preliminary evidence points to a double murder-suicide involving the eldest son.

Jamie Lee Charles, 43, Jaymison Samuel Shaw, 22, and William “Willie” Samuel Shaw Jr., 19, were discovered Sunday, Aug. 30, after officers were sent to a residence in the 3200 block of 78th Street East for a welfare check. Authorities have identified Jaymison as the suspect, while the investigation remains ongoing.

Police have not publicly disclosed a motive, explained what prompted the welfare check or released details about how the three family members died.

Police Say the Incident Was Confined to the Home

Jaymison Samuel Shaw has been identified as the suspect.Jamie Charles / Facebook

Inver Grove Heights Police Chief Melissa Chiodo said preliminary findings indicate investigators are dealing with a double murder-suicide.

According to police, the evidence gathered so far indicates the incident was confined to the residence, and Jaymison Shaw has been identified as the suspect. Authorities previously said there was no known continuing threat to the public.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension assisted with the investigation at the scene, while several neighboring law-enforcement agencies also provided support.

Despite identifying the three people involved and naming Jaymison as the suspected perpetrator, investigators have released few details about what happened before officers arrived.

No motive has been announced, and authorities have not publicly said what weapon, if any, was involved.

“This is a deeply tragic and heartbreaking event,” police said in a statement, acknowledging the grief experienced by relatives, friends and the surrounding community. Authorities asked that those affected be given privacy and support in the days ahead.

Jamie Charles Had Spent Years Caring for Others

Charles worked in nursing and had spent nine years with the Minneapolis VA Health Care System, according to reports and information from her social media. Minnesota state records also showed that she was a licensed practical nurse at the time of her death.

Only days before she died, Charles had shared a photograph from the Minnesota State Fair, where she posed with FOX 9 chief meteorologist Ian Leonard.

The timing added another painful dimension to her death because less than two weeks earlier, on Aug. 16, she had reflected publicly on surviving a serious health crisis the previous year.

“One year ago today I was laying in a hospital dying,” Charles wrote, without identifying the medical condition she had faced.

She described how quickly her life had been turned upside down and expressed gratitude to the relatives and friends who had supported her through the ordeal.

“I am forever grateful for my family and friends that have been there for me in my journey!” she wrote. “Without all of you I would not have made it.”

Those words, originally written as a reflection on survival and gratitude, would become especially poignant following the deaths of Charles and her sons.

A Mother and Her Two Sons

Charles frequently shared moments involving her family.

Her eldest son, Jaymison, had celebrated his 22nd birthday in June. Willie, 19, had graduated from high school the previous year.

Additional reporting following the deaths described Willie as a former basketball player at Simley High School.

Family members and friends gathered Monday evening at South Valley Park in Inver Grove Heights for a memorial honoring Charles and her sons. Attendees held candles, prayed and released balloons as relatives spoke about the family they had lost.

Charles’ cousin Jarid Friese told those gathered that he hoped the tragedy would also prompt people to take mental health seriously, while emphasizing that he did not know what had happened inside the home.

Friese said Charles would be remembered for her laugh.

Family Fundraiser Describes an ‘Unimaginable Heartbreak’

Charles’ niece, Polly Morgan, organized an online fundraiser to help the family with funeral and memorial expenses following the three deaths.

Morgan described the family as facing an unimaginable loss after suddenly losing Jamie, Willie Jr. and Jaymison.

“There are no words that can truly express the pain of losing three precious lives,” she wrote.

Morgan said each of them had brought their own love, happiness and memories into the lives of relatives and people in the community, adding that the space left behind by their deaths could never be filled.

The fundraiser was established to support Charles’ father, Rodney Charles, who is also the grandfather of Jaymison and Willie.

Questions Remain About What Happened Inside the Townhouse

Although police have publicly identified Jaymison as the suspect, much about the case remains unknown.

Authorities have not announced what they believe led to the deaths, what prompted someone to request the welfare check, or precisely how the three family members died. The investigation was still described as ongoing in the latest available police reporting.

What investigators have said is that the evidence gathered so far points to an incident involving members of the same household and that there is no indication of an ongoing danger to the surrounding community.

For those who knew the family, however, the focus has increasingly shifted from the unanswered questions surrounding the investigation to the three lives lost.

At Monday’s gathering, friends and relatives remembered Charles and her sons together — a family whose sudden deaths have left loved ones confronting a loss that, as Morgan wrote, has created a space that “can never be filled.”