A mother discovered dead alongside her six-year-old twins was buried alone after a court awarded custody of her children's remains to her abusive ex-husband, leaving her family devastated.
A Tragic Discovery and a Bitter Legal Battle
Charity Beallis, 40, and her twin daughter and son were found fatally shot at their home in Bonanza, Arkansas, on December 3. The grim discovery was made during a welfare check, just one day after a divorce hearing where Charity had been fighting for full custody of the children.
She had been locked in a tumultuous and frightening divorce from her ex-husband, Dr Randall Beallis. He had previously been arrested for domestic violence after choking Charity and pleaded guilty to third-degree battery. A court had ordered him to have no contact with Charity or her family unless authorised by a specific order.
A Family Torn Apart Even in Death
In a further cruel twist, the bodies of the six-year-old twins were turned over to Randall Beallis after he was awarded joint custody of the children's remains the day before they were killed. Charity's body was released to her eldest son, 24-year-old John Powell.
John laid his mother to rest on December 29, a sombre ceremony made more painful by the absence of his young siblings. "I was hoping to have them all in the same place, as they deserved and how they would have wanted it," he told the Daily Mail. "I don’t even know if the kids have been buried, or cremated, or where they may be. It’s heartbreaking."
Disturbingly, some of the family's personal belongings, including framed photos, children's artwork, and a gold necklace engraved with the twins' names, were found discarded in a dumpster near the crime scene three days after the deaths.
A Mother's Pleas for Help Ignored
In the lead-up to the tragedy, Charity had expressed profound fear and a sense of being failed by the systems meant to protect her. She told her son John she was "terrified" during the custody battle and warned she would "need all the help she could get."
In a poignant comment on a local news story, she wrote: "I'm living this battle right now. I am the victim, yet I've been treated like the problem while the criminal - a local doctor - is being shielded by the very system that's supposed to protect us. My voice, as the victim, has been shut out."
Randall Beallis's attorney, Michael D. Pierce, has stated his client was "heartbroken" over the deaths and maintains his innocence, claiming he was not responsible. He added that Randall has cooperated with the Sebastian County Sheriff’s Office investigation, which remains ongoing. No suspects have been publicly named.
