An Illinois man who admitted to killing his three children in 2022 was sentenced to life in prison on Friday.
In December, Jason Karels, 36, pleaded guilty but mentally ill to drowning his children, Bryant, 5, Cassidy 3, and Gideon 2, in a bathtub at his Round Lake Beach home. Karels committed the triple slaying because he was angry his children’s mother had left him, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Despite their separation, Karels’ estranged wife allowed their children to spend the night with him. She found her children’s dead bodies in a bedroom the following day.
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According to the Chicago Tribune, Karels left a note for his estranged wife which read in part, “If I can’t have them, neither can you.”
The Lake & McHenry County Scanner reported that the grisly discovery led to a 17-minute car chase which ended with Karels’ arrest. Not only did he immediately confess to the slayings, but he later provided a detailed statement in which he described drowning his children “one by one” in a bathtub.
Investigators determined that Karels attempted to take his own life after killing his children as they found a significant amount of blood at the crime scene that did not belong to the victims.
Lake County Judge James Booras characterized Karels’ actions as “sickening” and “despicable” before handing down a life sentence without the possibility of parole. Before being sentenced, the slain children’s mother told Karels, “My three angels are putting their mother back together slowly but surely.”
