Mother Pleads Guilty in 2019 Murder of Twin Toddlers Found Dead in Montauk

A 28-year-old mother has pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the deaths of her twin two-year-old daughters, in a horrific case from the summer of 2019 that led police on a countywide search to track her from Medford to Montauk where she was found with the girls strapped in their car seats.

Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced that Tenia Campbell took a plea deal Wednesday, Dec. 13 before Supreme Court Justice Richard Ambro and admitted to suffocating Jasmin and Jaida Campbell.

“This is such a sad and tragic case. Those two little girls looked to this defendant, their mother, for protection and love. Instead, she executed them,” Tierney said in a statement. “The defendant has one thing those twin girls will never have again: life. But now, this defendant will get to live out the majority of her life behind bars.” 

A sentence of 20 years to life is expected.

During the past four-and-a-half years, Campbell’s court-appointed attorney, John Halverson, had been mounting a psychiatric defense for his client, who has struggled with bipolar disorder, depression and anxiety since she was a teenager, according to Campbell’s mother, Vanessa McQueen. However, evaluations had found her competent to stand trial.

On June 27, 2019, around 2:30 p.m.,  McQueen called 911 to report that her daughter was on the other line, while driving, and threatening to kill herself and her twins, who had just turned 2 in April.

A three-way call between Campbell, her mother and the 911 operator was initiated, while police began a large-scale search that included multiple Suffolk County police county precincts and other police jurisdictions, Suffolk County aviation, county park rangers, state police and the Coast Guard.

During the 12-minute call, operators tried to glean as much information as possible, but Campbell was hysterical and would not reveal her exact location. She reportedly admitted to police during the call that she had already killed the girls.

Police descended on Campbell’s apartment in Medford, her mother’s house in Mastic and a daycare in Brentwood that her children had attended, in addition to places she had worked as a home health aid in East Northport and Westhampton.

Campbell’s older child, a 4-year-old son, was located with his father, who police said is not the father of the twins.

Telephonic GPS was used to pinpoint her location and an East Hampton Town police officer spotted Campbell’s Chrysler minivan in Montauk, at the entrance of Third House at Montauk County Park.

The then 24-year-old woman had parked the minivan and was walking toward Montauk Highway when the officer pulled up. Though unarmed, she screamed at responding officers to shoot her, according to then-Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart, who spoke to the media the following day.

They were able to safely take her into custody. The toddlers were found in their car seats — lifeless. They were transported to Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, where they were pronounced dead.

An autopsy later revealed they were suffocated, though it is not clear where exactly the deaths occurred.

Campbell had no record of domestic violence or Child Protective Services involvement, police said at the time.

Justice Ambro will sentence Campbell on Jan. 25 on two counts of first-degree murder, a Class A violent felony. In addition, according to Newsday, she will be sentenced on two separate incidents of attempted assault that occurred in the county jail since her arrest.

Her attorney could not be immediately reached for comment.