Content warning: mental illness, family violence.
This is a tough one to beat as horrifying true crime stories go. Shortly after 9 pm on Friday, June 5, 2009, recently separated mother of two Debra Jeter called 911 to report that she had killed her two daughters in an abandoned house in rural Texas.
Here’s what happened.
Jeter’s history of mental illness
The lead-up to the events of that night was bleak. Jeter had a history of instability. She had been put into a psychiatric care facility after allegedly abusing her eldest daughter in 2004 and attempted suicide in front of her daughters, 12 and 13, in May of 2009 — reportedly in response to her husband having filed for divorce.
After a brief stint of institutionalization, she was allowed unsupervised visitation with the kids, and a restraining order put in place by her estranged husband was lifted.
One day later, Jeter arrived to pick up her kids. Telling her daughters that she had a surprise for them, she drove them to a ranch house in Texas’s Hill County, just north of Waco, and took them into the bathroom.
Jeter’s horrific attack
Per Jeter’s confession, she began her attack by using a knife to slash at her 13-year-old daughter, who yelled to her 12-year-old sister to run. Jeter chased after the 12-year-old and cut her throat, killing her.
According to CBS News, not long after, she made the 911 call, in which she requested an ambulance for her surviving child. During the call, Jeter refused to identify herself, and scolded the emergency services operator, calling them names and chiding them to “get an ambulance out here to save the one that didn’t die.”
She can be heard coldly conversing with her gravely injured daughter, relaying to the 911 operator that she wants them to hurry.
Jeter immediately surrendered to the police when they arrived, leaving the murder weapon on top of her car. She was held on a $1.5 million bond. Her surviving daughter was airlifted to the hospital, where she received emergency surgery.
Jeter’s plea bargain
In May of 2010, Jeter, then 33, took a plea bargain, entering guilty pleas to all charges against her. This allowed her to avoid the death penalty and prevented her remaining daughter from having to testify against her.
After explaining that her actions were driven by her inability to deal with her divorce, she was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Before being transferred to a Gatesville prison where she will spend the rest of her life, she was allowed to see her ex-husband to whom she apologized but also expressed her hatred.
She also saw her daughter, with whom — per Murderpedia — she shared a few lighthearted moments.