Sylvia Majewska fought to keep her son away from his wife before murder

Publish date: 2024-06-19
'Killer': Sylvia Majewska, 65, allegedly killed her 29-year-old son and his daughter in November

'Killer': Sylvia Majewska, 65, allegedly killed her 29-year-old son and his daughter in November

A 'controlling' grandmother accused of slicing her mentally-disabled son's throat before beating his seven-month-old daughter to death had previously fought a bitter battle to keep him away from his wife, court records show.

Documents reveal the startling - and ultimately successful - lengths that Sylvia Majewska, 65, went to to keep Daryne Gailey, 29, away from Amanda Hendrick after they started dating in the mid-2000s.

Other records, revealed by the Detroit Free Press, show that Majewska, an artist from Oxford, Michigan, also dragged her ex-husband and neighbors through the courts.

Last month, she allegedly sliced her son's throat with a box cutter while he was in bed before fatally beating his daughter, Charley Lillian Hendrick, and then attempting to take her own life.

But she was alive when authorities went to the home on November 23 - after Gailey failed to return his daughter to her mother - and was taken to hospital, where she was arraigned.

She was released from hospital on Tuesday and is now on suicide watch in the Oakland County Jail.

While she has not yet been interviewed, authorities previously said they believe she carried out the killings because she thought her son, who had learning disabilities and suffered seizures, and his baby daughter would be better off dead.

She had long tried to stop Gailey's relationship with his baby's mother and feared that the former couple would rekindle their romance and go on to have more children, one attorney involved in the case told the Free Press.

After Majewska's son Gailey (right) married Amanda Hendrick (left), the 65-year-old mother filed a protective order against her

Split: When her son, Daryne Gailey (right) married Amanda Hendrick (left) last year, she refused to go to the wedding and sought an annulment after. She was legal guardian of Daryne, who had learning difficulties

'Daryne loved Amanda, and he wanted to be with her,' said attorney Thomas Brennan Fraser, who was appointed by the courts to oversee Gailey's financial affairs.

'He wanted to be married to her. There was nothing to keep him from disappearing and marrying her again, and Sylvia was never going to let that happen.'

Before she allegedly took his life, she had repeatedly intervened in their relationship.

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Gailey fell in love with Amanda Hendrick in the mid-2000s. She had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, according to court documents.

On learning about their relationship, Majewska filed motions in in Oakland County Probate Court to become her son's legal guardian, along with his father, Andrew Gailey, the Free Post reported.

She also insisted that he draft a will and leave out Hendrick and any children they might later have, and leave his home to her instead, records show.

Daryne Gailey, 29, (right) and his seven-month-old daughter Charley Hendrick (left) were found dead at Majewska's home on November 23 last year

Murdered: Gailey's neck was sliced with a box cutter while his seven-month-old daughter, Charley Hendrick, had been beaten to death when they were found killed inside his mother's home on November 23

Loss: Baby Charley, left and right with her mother Amanda, was found tucked up in her crib after she died

Majewska refused to attend their August 2013 wedding and then promptly filed motions to have the marriage annulled, the Free Press reported. When that bid failed, she sought a divorce. 

She also sought a personal protection order against Hendrick, claiming she had physically assaulted her son - which Hendrick and Gailey both denied. It was granted but later lifted.

There was nothing to keep him from marrying her again, and Sylvia was never going to let that happen Attorney Thomas Brennan Fraser

Fraser, the attorney, said that as Gailey's relationship continued, his mother became 'very, very angry' - to the point that he was worried for his staff's safety. He would only meet her in the courthouse after she had gone through metal detectors, he said.

Just 17 days after the divorce was granted, Majewska allegedly killed her son and granddaughter.

Other, earlier records also show that she repeatedly took her neighbors to court and also divorced her husband - Gailey's father - within weeks of sharing $1 million he had inherited. She claimed half the money was hers, records show.

As their divorce and custody battle waged on, she also claimed her ex-husband abused her son during visits, which he denied. 

Ultimately, her ex-husband allowed his wife to take control of their son's affairs, Fraser said.  

'Controlling': Majewska, an artist, also accused Amanda of acting violently towards her son, which she has denied. Other records show she dragged her husband and neighbors through the courts

'It was just to hard to go up against Sylvia,' he said.

In the hours before she allegedly killed her son, she mailed an annual accounting of her son's progress to the courts, as is legally-required.

She wrote that her son was 'much improved' because 'that manipulative woman is gone' and said that 'his family relationships have stabilized'.

By the time the courts received the document, her son was already dead. 

Gailey and his baby were found dead by authorities carrying out a welfare check on November 23.They found Charley tucked up in her crib, dead from blunt force trauma to the head, and discovered her father in the bathroom with a deep laceration from a boxcutter to his neck.

Majewska was on the couch with her arms slit and was 'bleeding into a bucket', Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard told the Detroit Press said. The box cutter was nearby. 

Bouchard said Majewska 'came to the conclusion that the son and the child would be better off if they weren't alive'.

Scene: Authorities found the bodies after Gailey failed to return his daughter to her mother in November

Scene: Authorities found the bodies after Gailey failed to return his daughter to her mother in November

Bouchard said investigators found several handwritten notes and other documents in the case. They found a new baby seat with a receipt, suggesting Majewska was planning to return it, police said.

Authorities added that she was apparently a controlling mother to her mentally impaired son.

'We certainly have information that she was an angry woman and a controlling woman,' he said, citing surveillance video showing the mother and son's interaction inside a store before the murders.

'She was very much in charge, berating him, in that encounter in the store,' he said.

Gailey had worked as a clerk at a Kroger grocery store in Lake Orion for 15 years, employees said. They told the Free Press that he 'had a big heart'. 

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