‘LIFE ON THE LINE’
Woman blasted in Plymouth shooting risked her life to place bedsheet over bodies of dad and three-year-old daughter
A MUM who was blasted by the Plymouth shooter risked her life to run out in the street to place a blanket over the bodies of a murdered father and his daughter.
Michelle Parsonage was shot on her porch by Jake Davison as he went on a murderous rampage killing five people last week.
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Mrs Parsonage, 53, braved being shot at again to go and lay a blanket over Lee Martyn and his three-year-old daughter Sophie, a witness has revealed.
She was later taken to hospital after sustaining wounds to her hand and arm after Davison had fired through the door of her home.
Her 33-year-old son Ben was also injured but both are expected to make a full recovery.
A witness told : “She's a very courageous woman because the gunman had only seconds left the street and headed into the park.
“She herself had already been shot and wounded yet she put her life on the line to make sure the father and daughter killed had some dignity.
“Her door had been shot through but I saw her come back out of the house and lay a bedsheet or blanket over their bodies before going back inside.
“The gunman was still going at this point and there were still gun shots ringing out.”
She herself had already been shot and wounded yet she put her life on the line to make sure the father and daughter had some dignity
It comes after The Sun revealed that Lee’s wife, Becky Martyn, posted a photo of her husband and children just hours before they were brutally killed.
The father and daughter had been out for a walk and were heading home, with Sophie pushing her dolly’s toy pram, when Davison opened fire on them.
Lee, 43, had desperately tried to shield his daughter but the shots poured out from the killer’s pump-action weapon. The pair had no chance.
Intensive care nurse Becky, 42, and Lee, who had worked for Toshiba before more recently in carpentry at a yacht company, have a son Cayden, seven.
They completed their family by adopting Sophie two years ago following a nervous 15-month wait for vigorous checks to be made.
SHIELDED HIS DAUGHTER
Lee described the moment she arrived in their lives as “a game changer” and told his friends on social media that Sophie was “a beautiful little girl, cheeky and full of life”.
The couple loved to share photographs of their family on Facebook.
Laura, 36, said: “Becky posted a photo on Facebook at about 2.30pm on Thursday of the children on a day out. They looked so happy. It is heartbreaking, it was just hours before it happened.
“I worked on the children’s ward upstairs in the hospital and she was downstairs. We are a close unit and we are all in shock.
“You don’t expect something like this to happen, to be going for a walk in daylight and to be killed. It is shocking, such a tragedy.
“I had to go to the vigil and pay my respects. They were such a lovely family.”
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Throughout lockdown, Becky worked tirelessly and was looking forward to spending more time with her family over the summer.
Another nurse that worked with Becky said: “She has spent pretty much the past year working flat out for the NHS, caring for people with Covid-19.
“She’s an angel who saved the lives of many, many people but, first and foremost, she was a loving mum who adored her husband and two children.
“Like many NHS staff she has had to spend a lot of time away from her family over the past year. But Becky never complained and Lee always stepped up.”
And on Thursday he did everything he could to save Sophie’s life.
MURDEROUS RAMPAGE
Davison shot dead his mother Maxine first of all during his killing spree on Thursday evening before shooting and killing Mr Martyn and his daughter Sophie in the street.
Davison then aimed and shot at Ben and Michelle before walking out of a cul-de-sac and shooting dead dog walker Stephen Washington, 59.
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His last victim was 66-year Kate Shepherd, who was shot dead outside the Blush hair salon, before he turned the gun on himself and took his own life.
It emerged on Friday Davison had his gun taken from him in December 2020 following an allegation of assault made two-months previously.
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