Long Island Mother Accused Of Killing 2-Year-Old Twin Daughters
MONTAUK, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) – A Long Island mother accused of killing her 2-year-old twin daughters faced a judge Friday.
The judge placed 24-year-old Tenia Campbell on suicide watch. She's charged with second-degree murder in the deaths of her twins, Jasmine and Jaida.
There was a frantic search Thursday for the possibly suicidal-homicidal single mother of twins, but by the time they found her, it was too late.
Somber Suffolk County officials expressed heartbreak at a news conference Friday.
"What happened yesterday is incomprehensible to us. As a father of three young kids, it's unimaginable," Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said.
Jasmine and Jaida were found dead in their car seats in a minivan in Montauk.
"Tenia had parked her car at the entrance of the park, walked to Montauk highway and started screaming at responding officers to shoot her," Suffolk Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart said.
It was a call to 911 by Campbell's mother that launched a search by air and land. She had Campbell on the phone, who was saying she "was sorry but didn't want to live anymore" and she was "going to kill herself and her babies."
"During the conversation, Tenia indicated that the girls were already deceased. A massive search began," Hart said.
Using cell phone tracking, police located her minivan. The twins showed no outward signs of trauma. An autopsy will determine the cause of death.
In the grandmother's statement to police, she quoted Campbell as saying, "I killed them with my bare hands."
She said she was "driving to a beach" to "find the ocean and walk into it so she could be with her babies in heaven."
"She's a good person. She absolutely loved the girls," Campbell's sister said before asking for privacy.
The grandmother told police she "has been acting very irrational and angry."
"I tried to convince her to take a break and recharge herself, but she always says she can handle it," the grandmother wrote.
She then cited a "very long history" of mental disorder, bipolar, depression and anxiety.
Campbell's attorney, Brian Desesa, suggests that will be the basis of the defense.
"It's clear that there are some emotional issues that'll need to be further looked into," he said.
Police say Campbell was estranged from the father of her twins. Campbell also has a 4-year-old son, who was found alive and well and is now with his father.
Campbell faces the possibility of two consecutive life sentences if convicted.