Two hours after she called 911 to report her baby wasn't breathing, a mother confessed to killing her three sons. Brittany Pilkington says she committed the murders because her husband ignored their daughter. But that's not even the strangest part of this story.
Bellefontaine, Ohio, police chief Brandon K. Standley said in a statement, "The tragic deaths of Niall, Gavin, and Noah leave a pit in our stomachs today. Our condolences go out to the remaining family members who have supported this family through a very difficult 13 months."
The Pilkingtons were under investigation following the death of their 3-month-old baby Niall in July 2014, and the death of 4-year-old Gavin in April. Police say father Joseph Pilkington came home from work to find an unresponsive child in both cases.
More from The Stir: Judge Says He Wasn't Told of the 'Danger' That Lead to the Murder of 6 Kids
The couple's other two children, newborn Noah and 3-year-old daughter Hailey, had been with child services since Gavin's death. But they were returned to the Pilkingtons just a month ago.
And then 3-month-old Noah died.
Brittany Pilkington's uncle Joe Skaggs is baffled as to why authorities handed the children back to their parents. "Why would you give them back after a little boy just died and when you're in the middle of an investigation?"
We're wondering the same. Wouldn't it make sense to return the children after you've concluded the investigation of TWO unexplained deaths that occurred within months of each other? Prosecutor William Goslee says a coroner had ruled neither of the children's deaths suspicious, though.
In her confession Brittany says she smothered each child to death with a blanket.
Goslee says, "In her mind, she was protecting her daughter from being not as loved as the boys were by their father." Obviously that's no reason to kill your other children! That said, it makes you wonder if Brittany was harboring unhealed wounds from her own childhood. Did she feel unloved compared with her own brothers?
Again, it certainly doesn't justify murdering your babies. Clearly something more severe is wrong with Ms. Pilkington -- and now three children are dead and her daughter will most likely grow up without her mother.
Image via Logan County Jail