SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y. (TCD) — A 28-year-old woman entered a plea this week for killing her two young daughters in 2019 and driving around with their bodies in her van.
In a statement, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office announced Tenia Campbell pleaded guilty to two counts of murder in connection with the deaths of her 2-year-old daughters, Jaida and Jasmine Campbell.
On June 27, 2019, at 2:37 p.m., Campbell’s mother reportedly called police and said Campbell was driving in her van and threatening to kill herself and her daughters. Law enforcement officials conducted a widespread search for Campbell, and a police officer located her car about an hour and a half after the initial call.
The police officer reportedly approached Campbell, who was standing outside the van. When the officer got closer to the vehicle, she reportedly saw the twins deceased in their car seats. Campbell confessed to smothering her daughters to death.
According to the district attorney’s office, an ambulance transported the girls to an area hospital, where they were pronounced deceased. The medical examiner determined they died from “homicidal violence consistent with manual asphyxia.”
Campbell was initially charged with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder.
A judge is expected to sentence Campbell to 20 years to life in prison.
District Attorney Raymond Tierney said following the plea, “This is such a sad and tragic case. Those two little girls looked to this defendant, their mother, for protection and love. Instead, she executed them. The defendant has one thing those twin girls will never have again: life. But now, this defendant will get to live out the majority of her life behind bars.”
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