A 28-year-old mother from Medford, Long Island, New York, pleaded guilty on Wednesday, December 13, 2023, to the first-degree murder of her two-year-old twin daughters. 

The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office announced that Tenia Campbell, who committed the crime in June 2019, is expected to receive a sentence of 20 years to life in prison. 

On June 27, 2019, Campbell was engulfed in suicidal thoughts and drove her minivan, with her twins, Jasmine and Jaida, inside, toward the eastern tip of Long Island. The journey ended under a tree at the Montauk County Park Third House Nature Center entrance. 

Campbell’s mother had contacted 911, expressing concern about the safety of the twins and reporting that her daughter had threatened to kill both her daughters and herself.

This call prompted a wide-ranging search operation involving local and state police, park rangers, and the Coast Guard. 

Roughly one hour and 20 minutes after the initial 911 call, East Hampton Town Police officers found Campbell’s vehicle and confirmed her presence.

She stepped out of the minivan and walked to a nearby roadway, imploring the arriving officers to shoot her. 

One of the responding officers then discovered Jasmine and Jaida lifeless in their car seats. The Suffolk County DA’s office said that Campbell admitted to smothering her daughters to death. 

The twins were in cardiac arrest when first responders arrived and were rushed to Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, where they were pronounced dead.

The county medical examiner determined that the twins’ deaths resulted from “homicidal violence consistent with manual asphyxia.” 

In a statement, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney described the incident as deeply saddening, noting the girls’ expectation of protection and love from their mother was brutally betrayed.

Campbell entered her guilty plea before Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice Richard Ambro and awaits her sentencing conference scheduled for January 25, 2024.