SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y. (TCD) — A judge sentenced a 28-year-old mother to 20 years to life in prison for smothering her twin daughters to death and driving with their bodies in 2019.
The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office announced the ruling against Tenia Campbell on Monday, Jan. 29, after she pleaded guilty in December 2023 to two counts of the first-degree murder of her 2-year-old daughters, Jaida and Jasmine Campbell.
On June 27, 2019, shortly after 2:30 p.m., Campbell’s mother reportedly called authorities and reported that her daughter was driving in a van, threatening to kill herself and her toddlers.
At around 4 p.m., an East Hampton Police officer located Campbell’s van following a widespread search by law enforcement officials. The officer reportedly went up to Campbell, who was standing outside the vehicle. As she got closer, the police officer observed the twins deceased in their car seats, according to the district attorney’s office.
The young victims were transported to a local hospital via ambulance, where they were pronounced dead. The medical examiner reportedly determined they died of asphyxiation, and Campbell later admitted to fatally suffocating the girls.
Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney commented, “These two young lives were cut short by the one person who was supposed to love and protect them. Although the 20-year sentence here resolves this sad case, it will not bring back these girls.”
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