WILKES-BARRE TOWNSHIP — A mother from Wilkes-Barre is charged with attempted homicide after police say she tried to kill her own children Wednesday night.
Melissa Scholl put one end of a hose in her exhaust pipe and the other end in the open window of her car, with two children in the back seat, according to police.
Before Scholl was able to kill herself and the children, bus driver Robert Shinal found them.
People in the area are calling it a miracle that he found them at that moment, because Shinal arrived two hours earlier than expected to the parking lot.
Shinal told WNEP he originally thought the car was just in the wrong place, but when he saw the children in the car and the hose in the exhaust pipe, he acted fast.
“I then blocked the car and pulled the hose out of the window and she gave me her keys no problem, and then I called 911.” Said Shinal.
Shinal says he’s just happy the children are safe, but the question remains: “What was Melissa Scholl thinking?”
WNEP obtained text messages, that show there may have been warning sings.
Neighbors say in the past year Scholl gave birth to twins, but when she was six months pregnant the father was killed in a crash.
According to neighbors she gave the infants to a friend to take care of.
“Seemed like she didn’t even care. She said the reason why she gave her kids up for adoption because the father got in a car accident, got killed,” said a neighbor.
The grandmother of the children said Scholl texted her Wednesday afternoon saying, “I miss him so much.”
The grandmother wrote back, “I got the kids some gifts if you need anything like a tree or whatever let me know we will try and help definitely.”
Scholl then responds, “thank you for everything/God I miss him / he was so kind to me.”
The last message was received two hours before Scholl was found in her car with a hose pumping carbon monoxide into the vehicle along with her 7-year-old son, and 5-year-old daughter.
While the father of Scholl’s infant children died in a crash, her other two children involved in Wednesday night’s incident have a different father. He’s in jail.
Melissa Scholl’s preliminary hearing is set for December 23.
