UPDATE: Debra Jeter Accused Of Slashing Daughters Pleads Guilty and is sentenced to life without the possibility of parole

HILLSBORO, Texas - A central Texas woman is charged with murder after police say she slashed the throats of her two daughters. One girl died. The other is in critical condition.

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I know we sometimes see the husband/father kill his children during a divorce/custody battle, but this one struck me as very sad. The father apparently knew or suspected that she was crazy, as he had refused to let the mother see her children for quite some time. But, she told him she had a surprise for the girls, she picked them up, took them to an abandoned home and slashed their throats.
This is not far from where I live, I guess that's what made it real to me... The little girls pics were on TV last night, with their daddy - the oldest is in critical condition, but expected to make it... The youngest one did not. It was very sad, one of that girls teachers wrote in to the show expressing her memories of the little girl, she touched many lives... RIP Kelsey

Stories like this scare me. I am afraid the world has to many evil people here it must be hell here on earth. My understanding is when these dark souls die they come right back.

wwwooo[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] slashing a throat is really cold blooded. couldnt she just give them a pill? honestly these women make whats her name that drove her car into the lake look like a nun.

see what i mean about more women perps? do you think its because casey looks like she might get away with it? (i dont think she will but some might think so)

I think it might have something to do with women not really ever bonding with their kids. So many moms work (as do I) and I think that some mothers have their priorities screwed up... IMO there is a new kind of mom - we all see them - usually they are celebrity status though (sometimes they just think they are) - and their kids are more of an "accessory" than a child to love and hold and nuture. In my personal life, I only know one mother like that, and I keep waiting to see that family on the news one day - the family is very well off - the kids are dressed in the most expensive and fashionable clothes (nothing wrong with that), but those children are so starved for love and attention, it's sad. The girls are 9 and 6 - and the parents leave them home alone in their gated community - with a pool out back... they aren't fed until 11 pm on some nights, it's really neglect if you ask me - the parents are quite the social butterflies - but they neglect their parental responsibilities, and they pawn them off on whoever will take them. I don't know if this mother was that way, when I saw her on the news, she didn't look that way, they looked middle class - and her situation is much different, i think she killed them to get back at her husband, revenge - so to speak... Juanita, you're exactly right though - the way she chose to kill her children is very callous - heinous - more of a serial killers MO than a mothers... I just can't imagine what those 2 girls thought - and they were older too, I think 12 and 13 - they were not small children, so you know that they most likely struggled with her. Especially the 2nd one, whichever one that might have been, after watching what her mother did to her sister. It's horrible.

Juanita wrote:wwwooo[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] slashing a throat is really cold blooded. couldnt she just give them a pill? honestly these women make whats her name that drove her car into the lake look like a nun.

see what i mean about more women perps? do you think its because casey looks like she might get away with it? (i don't think she will but some might think so)

Juanita, the nut that drove into the lake was Susan Smith. her children suffered a horrible death too. After her confession LE took a car exactly like hers and drove into the water. It took twenty minutes to completely go under. Those poor kids. She admitted they screamed and cried locked in their car seats. She walked away AFTER she knew they were dead. Too hear their cries? That is almost as bad as slashing their throats. can u imagine hating your ex so much you would kill the children you profess to love?

I have a complete dislike for my ex - very near the hating mark, but I could NEVER hurt one of my babies... they are 7 and 9 - and no matter what their scumbag daddy does, it's not their fault - in fact, I'm more of one to blame myself for the position we're all in, cause I'm the one that slept with the dirtbag... it's not my kids fault that they're in this situation...

OH GOSH i didnt realize it took that long for the car to go down. they could have been saved!

in any case, cold blooded = drawing blood. just horrible, unimaginable.

Hey, the good old state of TX. Maybe they will fry her. I wish they would bring back public hanging.

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4 news videos,pics of daughters & story

thanks michelle

I just don't understand. When I was young, I would hear my elders talk of how the kids today had no respect, or whatever... now it is my turn to say the same thing.
I was married quite young to a man 10 years older who had a 4 yr old little girl. After four more children, the marriage failed. I got tired of split lips, black eyes and etc. I was the first to shame the family with divorce!
45 years later, my grand daughter, mother of two, walked out on her children and husband. She no longer wanted to play house, be a wife/mommy. Her husband is a wonderful man and an awesome father. He has the children. Young people today ....
Seem to have little sense of responsibility and are very selfish. I see so much of the ME ME ME attitude. In part, I feel drugs has a lot to do with this, but these kids weren't on drugs when they were growing up. Is it poor parenting? Did I screw up raising my children and therefore my children were lousy parents? I don't think so. There are just too many young people who are all about themselves, and have no regard for life. This seems to be a problem of our society, but I have no idea why.

Car accident damaged memory of woman who allegedly murdered daughter, her lawyer says
Thursday, September 03, 2009

Debra Janelle Jeter’s defense attorney says the 32-year-old nursing student doesn’t remember whether she killed her 12-year-old daughter and severely injured her 13-year-old daughter.

Waco lawyer Russ Hunt Jr., who was appointed earlier this week to lead her defense team, said Jeter was involved in a car accident that appears to have affected her memory in the months before the June 3 slashing death of her daughter Kelsey. Jeter had to be taken by helicopter to a hospital after the accident, he said.

A psychologist determined Jeter, a Malakoff native, last month to be competent to stand trial, and a Hill County grand jury indicted her on charges of attempted murder and capital murder.

Police say Debra Jeter killed her daughter Kelsey (left) and stabbed her daughter Kiersten.


Hunt’s first visit with Jeter was Tuesday afternoon. He described his new client as “obviously depressed” but said she was able to answer his questions “appropriately.”

“She was not able to tell me anything at all” about the attack, Hunt said. “She has a problem with her memory. She doesn’t remember anything.”

When asked whether Jeter knows that her younger daughter is dead, Hunt said, “It depends on what day you talk to her.”

“She has a history of problems, including seizure disorders and depression, and as a result of the accident, there are large sections of her brain missing,” Hunt said.

Hunt did not have a date, or any details, of the alleged car accident. Attempts late Wednesday to verify details of the wreck with various law enforcement agencies were unsuccessful.

Hill County District Attorney Dan Dent said he, too, had gotten word of a car accident involving Jeter but had no information about it. He declined to comment on his office’s interviews with 13-year-old Kiersten Jeter and her father, Lester Lee Jeter.

When Hunt was asked how he intends to represent a woman who apparently has such a serious brain injury, he said he would try to “figure out if there’s a way that her memory is going to be restored.”

“We’re still in the process of doing all that,” he said.

Jeter had been studying to be a registered nurse at Hill College at the time of the attack on her children. She had been a part-time employee during the 2008 fall semester at Hill College, where she worked as a tutor in anatomy and physiology.

Jeter had spent four days being treated at the DePaul Center after a May 21 suicide attempt at the Hillsboro home she shared with her two daughters and husband.

After the suicide attempt, which her daughters reportedly witnessed, Jeter’s husband filed a protective order against her.

The day after the order expired, sheriff’s officials have said Jeter told her daughters around 6 p.m. that she had a surprise for them, then drove them to an abandoned ranch house off U.S. Highway 77.

Hill County officials say Jeter later called 9-1-1 from the ranch house and told dispatchers that she had just killed her two daughters. When deputies arrived on the scene, she had both hands raised in the air, and a knife rested on a nearby car, officials said.

Kelsey was found dead in the bathroom, and Kiersten was taken by helicopter to Parkland Hospital in Dallas.

Officials said Kiersten’s throat had been slashed and that she had been stabbed multiple times in the back while trying to protect her sister.

Jeter is being held in lieu of $1.5 million bail on suicide watch in the Hill County Jail. Neither lawyer could say whether Jeter has had any visitors. They said, however, that neither Kiersten nor her estranged husband had visited.

Hillsboro woman indicted, ruled competent to stand trial in murder of daughter

A Hill County grand jury Wednesday indicted 32-year-old nursing student Debra Janelle Jeter in connection with the June slashing death of her 12-year-old daughter and the stabbing of her 13-year-old daughter.

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Debra Janelle Jeter of Hillsboro remains in the county jail being held on capital murder and attempted capital-murder charges.
She is charged in the June death of her daughter Kelsey Leanne Jeter and attempted murder of Kiersten Leigh Jeter, her other daughter. Both had their throats cut.
Her trial is tentatively set for the end of March, 2010.

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OMG! Between this woman and Cindy Anthony, I'll never look at a nurse again without wondering what evil is hiding under that cute little nurse's cap... Oh, I guess they don't wear those anymore.

Officials said Kiersten’s throat had been slashed and that she had been stabbed multiple times in the back while trying to protect her sister.

When I read that all I can think about is Katie being a big Sister soon and how "big Sisters" look out for and protect the "little Sister".

Big parts of this woman brains are missing???? This is going to sound really cold but to bad she did not die in that car accident.

That statement bothered me too. It came from an attorney, yet doesn't sound like an intelligent sentence...

Does he mean that there was a lobotomy? I doubt it. :roll: Does he mean that she has lost memory and possibly other functions of her brain? Probably. Will he be more articulate in court? I certainly hope so! :Exercise:

I also wonder why he did not give any details on the car accident, such as date, place, etc.? :idk:

P.S. I love these emoticons!

since this is close to home - it was reported early on - and I think I included it in the first links provided that she PREMIDATED this crime by searching the week before for empty homes in which to carry out this crime... so out goes the crazy lady defense, IMO...

This monster that assaulted these girls is my 1/2 sister. My oldest niece is doing as good as can be expected. Please understand when I say I can not wait for this trial to take place. I want this monster to pay for what she has done to my nieces.

Our family is still mourning the loss of our sweet lil Kelsey. And are dealing with what has happened to Kiersten,one day at a time. This has changed our family forever and some of us may never heal from this. I was very close to this monster and I can tell you NO ONE could ever know that this kind of EVIL is inside someone.

I for one do not understand how you can bring a child into the world and teach it not to fear. Then in the end you become the one thing that the child fears the most.
Children are God's blessing and he entrusted her to love, nuture and keep them safe, and she betrayed GOD!!!
I believe HATE is a very strong word and you should never use it lightly. I can truly say I HATE HER!!!!

tammy_dcm Today at 10:49 pm This monster that assaulted these girls is my 1/2 sister. My oldest niece is doing as good as can be expected. Please understand when I say I can not wait for this trial to take place. I want this monster to pay for what she has done to my nieces.

Your feelings are the same as everyone on VH. I'm so sorry for what has happened to your family. We will be updating this thread when the trial begins and if there are any new developments before that. Welcome to VH.

tammy_dcm, Welcome to VH and expressing your feelings and hurt.

I cannot begin to imagine what you must be going through. We are all here for you and as BJ said, we will keep this case up.

I am very happy that you are here. You have come to the right place to express all your thoughts and feelings. God Bless You!!

tammy_dcm to Victims Heartland. I am sorry about your families loss. Has your 1/2 Sister showed signed of being mentally ill before this happened? My heart goes out to you and your family. Please feel free to post your feelings and thoughts. Or contact me if there is anything I can do to help you.

Thank you all for your kind words! I will help keep you informed on the trial.

Welcome to VH tammy_dcm
we are all here for you! i'm really sorry for what happened to your family. Kiersten will survive this ordeal because she has loving family like you at her side

Welcome to VH tammy_dcm

I can only imagine what your family is going through and poor little Kiersten :pale: My heart goes out to that little girl!!

Welcome to VH!! You have found a wonderful place with GOOD Genuine People Here!!!

Welcome to VH tammy_dcm. It's good that you found us but sorry that you are here under the circumstances. I don't want to barrage you with questions, but do you agree with her atty that the car accident was a factor?

Welcome, tammy, wish we could have met you under more pleasant circumstances. My heart goes out to you and your family. The gravity of this crime is so great that I, for one, cannot find the words to post about it, so I will just say that all the above posters have said it all best and not add to it. I only want to express my sympathies to you.

Settings In Jeter Case Delayed
Court settings in capital murder and attempted capital murder cases against Debra Jenelle Jeter of Hillsboro have been delayed.
Attorneys for both the prosecution and defense signed off on an agreement Monday, February 1, to withdraw the current settings.
Jeter has remained in the Hill County Law Enforcement Center since June of last year.
She is charged in the death of her daughter Kelsey Leanne Jeter and attempted murder of daughter Kiersten Leigh Jeter.
The initial pre-trial hearing was held the first week in January and the final pre-trial hearing was slated for 8 a.m. Friday, February 5. The case had been set to go to trial Monday, March 29.
Court documents indicated that “counsel have agreed to withdraw the current settings in the cases, to be reset when certain pre-trial matters have been resolved.”
Assistant District Attorney Nicole Crain said Tuesday, February 2, that she could not comment on the reason or reasons for the delay.
A call by The Reporter Newspaper to Mrs. Jeter’s Whitney attorney Phil Weaver was not returned Tuesday afternoon.
Waco attorney Ross Hunt Jr., who is cocounsel for Mrs. Jeter, said at the January hearing that should the state proceed with the death penalty as an option, he was unsure whether the defense team could have all of their expert witnesses lined up in time for the scheduled March trial.
Mrs. Crain did confirm Tuesday that the issue of whether the death penalty would be sought against Mrs. Jeter had not been decided.

In reply to the comments on my posting...
Her so called brain damage is a crock! She was involved in a car wreck but that happened several years ago NOT months ago! There was no brain damage and was released a few days later. She said she had memory loss, but I believe that was a crock also! She had gotten caught sleeping with a friend of her husbands! Convenient memory loss if you as me.
We are just waiting to see what court will bring, from what I have heard her attorneys are only trying to keep the state of Texas from killing her, they are not saying she did not do it! How could they she was standing in the garage of the house where it happened and she is the one who called for help!

Hi tammy - I initially posted on this because it's so close to home - I live just about 30 mi. from Hillsboro - and as you know it was on the dallas/ft worth news for a loooong time... they don't cover it anymore unfortunately... What she did is just horrible - and I didn't believe the pile of crock her lawyer tried to pass off on us for one second - the news station here reported repeatedly that Debra drove around at least one week in advance - just to pick out an empty home to do this in... that shows premediation - no insane or mentally ill person can be that articulate in planning their crime IMO w/o having responsibility for it.
My heart goes out to you - i feel for the whole family. Please keep us informed, and if I'm able, I would love to come to the courthouse for at least the verdict if they will let the public attend - if you know if they will, please let me know.
Keeping you in my thoughts and prayers...

The final pre-trial hearing in the capital-murder case against Debra Janelle Jeter has been rescheduled.
Jeter is charged in connection with the killing of her 12-year-old daughter Kelsey Leanne Jeter and the attempted capital murder of daughter Kiersten Leigh Jeter, who was 13 at the time. The offenses occurred in June.
The pre-trial hearing had originally been set for the first week in March, with a trial date the end of that month.
The hearing is now scheduled for Thursday, May 20, at 8:30 a.m. in 66th District Court, according to a court spokesman.

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Thank you BJ
in OR for posting the update on the trial! I have not had time to post it since hearing of it.

Thank you all for the thoughts and prayers for our family. We NEED them! Kelsey's birthday is coming up next month and then the Anniversary of her death, so PLEASE keep praying! This hearing is 4 days before her birthday, which will be hard with out having court days before!

Stay strong tammy_dcm. Justice will be served!

HILLSBORO (May 25, 2010)--Debra Jeter, 33, who was charged in the murder of one of her daughters and the attempted murder of another daughter, pleaded guilty Tuesday in state district court in Hillsboro to capital murder and attempted capital murder.

She was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

Had Jeter decided not to accept the plea deal, prosecutors were prepared to seek the death penalty.

She entered the plea one day after what would have been her slain daughter’s 13th birthday.

Assistant District Attorney Nicole Crain, however, said Jeter’s decision to plead guilty will make things easier on the family and specifically on her surviving daughter, who would have had to testify against her mother.

She’s now 14 and was on a school field trip Tuesday, her father said.

Security was tight for the pretrial hearing during which the plea was entered, although both Jeter and her attorneys appeared via video teleconference.

Jeter was arrested on June 5, 2009 after a woman who refused to identify herself called 911 and told the operator she had just killed her children.

Hill County deputies, Hillsboro police and state troopers went to an abandoned farm house on U.S. 77 just off Interstate 35 and found Jeter in the garage with her hands raised above the head.

Officers found 12-year-old Kelsey Leanne Jeter dead inside the house and13-year-old Kiersten Leigh Jeter critically injured in a bedroom.

Authorities said Kiersten, had a stab wound in her back and evidently tried to protect her younger sister during the attack.

Authorities said Debra Jeter and her estranged husband were in the middle of a divorce and said that she was picking up the girls for the first time under the terms of a custody order.

Emergency personnel responded to a 911 call from Jeter’s residence reporting an overdose on May 21, 2009, authorities said.

She was referred to the Waco-based Heart of Texas Region MHMR after the 911 call.

Just a warning to all parents..... they have released the 911 tapes of the Jeter call on June 5,2009! Please do not let your babies hear this monster !!!

911 Call
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On a 911 tape released Wednesday, Debra Jeter, the Central Texas woman who pleaded guilty to charges in an attack that left her younger daughter dead, can be heard imploring a 911 operator to rush an ambulance to the abandoned house for her badly wounded older daughter.
-Debra Jeter, 33, who was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole Tuesday, can be heard on a 911 dispatch tape released Wednesday imploring the operator to speed an ambulance to the abandoned house in Hill County where she used a knife in an attack that left her younger daughter dead and her older daughter badly wounded.

“I just killed my children,” Jeter told the dispatcher.

Then she said, “One of them is still alive, hurry.”

“Get an ambulance out here to save the one that didn’t die,” she said.

“Come on, hurry up.”

Later she can be heard saying, “Oh my God, she’s dead. Oh My God.”

Jeter pleaded guilty Tuesday to capital murder and attempted capital murder after accepting a plea deal with prosecutors that spared her the possibility of a death sentence.

She entered the plea one day after what would have been her slain daughter’s 13th birthday.

Assistant District Attorney Nicole Crain, however, said Jeter’s decision to plead guilty will make things easier on the family and specifically on her surviving daughter, who would have had to testify against her mother.

She’s now 14 and was on a school field trip Tuesday, her father said.

Jeter was arrested on June 5, 2009 after placing the 911 call.

Hill County deputies, Hillsboro police and state troopers converged on the abandoned farmhouse on U.S. 77 just off Interstate 35 and found Jeter in the garage with her hands raised above the head.

Officers found 12-year-old Kelsey Leanne Jeter dead inside the house and13-year-old Kiersten Leigh Jeter critically injured in a bedroom.

Authorities said Kiersten, had a stab wound in her back and evidently tried to protect her younger sister during the attack.

Authorities said Debra Jeter and her estranged husband were in the middle of a divorce and said that she was picking up the girls for the first time under the terms of a custody order.

Emergency personnel responded to a 911 call from Jeter’s residence reporting an overdose on May 21, 2009, authorities said.

She was referred to the Waco-based Heart of Texas Region MHMR after the 911 call.

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JVM snippet of 06/01/10 show:

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight a hideous, unthinkable crime. A Texas mom kills her 12-year-old daughter in a violent knife attack and seriously wounds the older sister. What does the mom do next? She calls 911 and makes a shocking confession.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hill County 911. What`s your emergency?

JETER: I just killed my children.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Excuse me?

JETER: I just killed my children.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where are you?

JETER: One of them is dead, she`s dead. But the other one, she wants to be saved and I -- she needs to be saved. Oh, my God, she`s dead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Thirty-three-year-old Debra Jeter has pleaded guilty to capital murder charges and will spend the rest of her life locked up, no possibility of parole for this murderous mom.

Jeter and her estranged husband were in the middle of a divorce, and she was picking up their girls for a first-time visit under their custody order. About two weeks before this horrific crime, Jeter was sent to a mental health facility after cops say she apparently O.D.`d, where she tried to commit suicide.

Joining me now for a much, much needed diagnosis, Dr. Dale Archer, clinical psychiatrist.

Dr. Dale, how does a woman get to the point of doing this hideous thing to her own flesh and blood?

DR. DALE ARCHER, PSYCHIATRIST: Well, I think in this particular case, it goes to the divorce. And she was having problems in the marriage. She got depressed. She attempted suicide, and then a restraining order was filed against her, stating she couldn`t see the kids alone.

Well, she started thinking at that point, you know, I may never see my kids again. Or, he may get them, and you know what? If I can`t have them, no one else will. And that`s what led her to the option of murder.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I think there`s something very interesting about the wording she used. The one girl wants to be saved. I don`t know whether she might have been having some sort of religious delusion, as well. There`s always that possibility. Now, in this next clip from the 911 call, the mom appears panicked when she realizes her other daughter is still alive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JETER: Tell them to hurry.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They`re hurrying, honey, they`re hurrying.

JETER: Oh, my God, she`s dead. OK, my God.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How old are the children?

JETER: I`m not telling you. She wants you to hurry.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Honey, they are coming. They`re coming as fast as they can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Dr. Dale, how sick is that? First she tries to kill them, and then one survives, and she`s like, "Hurry up, save them."

ARCHER: Well, you have conflicting emotions, Jane, and you have to understand that the mother-child bond is the strongest bond in the animal kingdom. So the question would be what could cause that bond to shatter? Very simply: culture and society norms.

But when you live in a culture where violence is embraced, then violence and even murder becomes an option. Now most people aren`t going to act on that option, but that explains why she was so conflicted. And the problem is, unless we address the issue of the culture of violence as a whole, we`re going to hear more and more and more about these types of stories.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And we try to address that issue, culture of violence, here on ISSUES and just tell people out there, don`t use violence as a solution. And we have to teach nonviolent conflict resolution.

Dale Archer, so much.

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