Mom reveals horror after coming home to find two toddlers 'shaken to death by boyfriend high on Percocet'

A MOTHER has revealed her horror at coming home to find that her two toddlers had allegedly been shaken to death by her boyfriend who was high on Percocet.

A one-year-old and two-year-old have now died from their injuries, which a doctor said were likely the result of shaken baby syndrome.

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Ciera N. Gillespie, the mother of the two boys, and her boyfriend Thomas W. Cunningham are facing multiple charges, the Upshur County Sheriff's Office in West Virginia announced on Friday.

However, the charges are expected to be upgraded as the second toddler died over the weekend, according to Upshur County Sheriff Virgil Miller, who spoke to FOX12.

Gillespie told police that she left the two toddlers and a six-year-old with Cunningham while she ran to the store on November 28.

When she was returning home, Gillespie received a call from Cunningham stating that something was wrong with the boys.

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When Gillespie got home, Cunningham handed her one of the boys who was limp and had “blood coming from his mouth and nose,” according to the criminal complaint obtained by FOX12.

Cunningham called 911, deputies said, and an ambulance responded to the scene.

But then, as Gillespie was about to leave in the ambulance with the two-year-old, Cunningham appeared with the one-year-old, saying “there was something wrong with this baby also.”

The two-year-old died at the hospital.

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The one-year-old died from his injuries over the weekend, according to his grandmother, Stephanie Warner.

She told FOX12 that the incident was “horrible” and “unspeakable.”

The doctor who treated the two-year-old, WVU Medicine staff member Dr Melvin Wright, told authorities that “the retinal injuries were the worst he had seen in 20 years.”

He also said that the injuries were consistent with shaken baby syndrome.

Speaking of the one-year-old, the doctor said that toddler's injuries were "significant" and also consistent with shaken baby syndrome, adding that “it would have to be a violent trauma with immediate incapacitation.”

West Virginia State Police then released a statement on December 1 alleging that Gillespie told them of her belief that Cunningham had used a controlled substance during the incident.

Cunningham reportedly later admitted to police “that he had used Percocet to get high,” according to the criminal complaint.

He has been charged with two felony counts of child abuse, according to My Buckhannon.

Gillespie faces two felony child neglect charges.

Both are reportedly being held at the West Virginia Regional Jail.

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In addition to the sheriff's office, West Virginia State Police and the Mountain Lake Drug and Violent Crime Taskforce are investigating.

A GoFundMe has been created to assist the boys' father and sister.