A mother has pleaded guilty to the murder of her 2-year-old twin daughters, who were suffocated in June 2019.
Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney said the 28-year-old mother, Tenia Campbell, of Medford, New York, entered guilty pleas to two counts of first-degree murder in state court in Suffolk County on Monday.
Officials said that she is expected to be sentenced to 20 years in prison next month.
Recall that on July 27, 2019, Campbell, gripped by suicidal thoughts, drove a minivan with her twins toward the eastern tip of the island.
Campbell stopped the minivan under a tree at the entrance to Montauk County Park Third House Nature Center, Tierney’s office said.
Campbell’s mother had called 911 to express concern about the twins, Jasmine and Jaida Campbell, saying her daughter, Tenia, threatened to kill them and herself.
Officials then launched a search that included help from state and local police, park rangers and Coast Guard.
East Hampton Town Police officers spotted the minivan almost two hours after Campbell’s mother first called and confirmed Tenia Campbell was with it.
Our source, NBC New York, reported that Campbell got out of the minivan, walked to a nearby roadway and told responding officers to shoot her.
“The officers walked over to the van and saw Campbell’s 2-year-old twin daughters dead in their car seats.
“Campbell later admitted to smothering the girls to death.
“Those two little girls looked to this defendant, their mother, for protection and love, instead, she executed them.
“This is such a sad and tragic case,” Suffolk County office said in a statement.
