The spine-chilling story of a Texas woman, Debra Jeter will make you rethink a mother-child relationship. Debra committed a gut-wrenching deed as a result of her mental sufferings. Besides, the fact that she called 911 and reported her own actions to the police brings down shivers. On June 5, 2009 Debra picked her daughters, Kiersten and Kelsey, from school and drove all the way to an abandoned house. Not only did she attack her daughters and try to kill them by slitting their throats, but also reported herself to 911. “I just killed my children”, admitted Debra.

The day of Debra Jeter’s crime

Debra Jeter just got out from the mental institution she was admitted to. And, on 5 June 2009 she was going to see her daughters after 15 days. Though this time, it was an unsupervised visit. Before this, because of her condition her husband Lester got a temporary restraining order against her. 

Debra Jeter went to Kiersten’s and Kelsey’s school to pick them up. She told them that she has a surprise for them at the store. And, then drove to an isolated house in a rural area with them. She attacked both of her daughters with a knife on their neck. Almost after three hours from picking them up from school, she reported herself through a phone call. 

During that call, Debra also urged the dispatcher to call for an ambulance to save the one daughter who didn’t die. On the other hand of the phone, the person could hear Kiersten’s murmuring while clinging to her life. Jeter herself being a nursing student said that, “She’s asking to be saved and I couldn’t handle that and so now…It’s been a long time. She might already die because she bled out a lot and…” Following this Debra was heard talking to Kiersten, “-hold on, what baby? What did you say? I am on the phone with 911… Then she continued on the phone saying, “Please hurry.”

However, as by-passers, a question lingers in our head that what can compel a mother to do this to her children?

Debra Jeter’s family dynamics

Debra Janella Jeter’s life seemed to be like a normal woman, probably born in the 1970s. She met her husband Lester “Lee” Jeter and had two daughters out of this marriage. However, as the years went by the marriage started to hve troubles and in 2009, Lee filed for a divorce. The relationship between the couple detrotriated between 2004 and 2009 and along with this, Debra’s mental health started detrotriating too. 

Soon after Lee’s divorce filing, Debra attempted suicide in front of her daughters. Resulting in Lester taking over their daughters’ temporary custody and Debra going to a mental facility.  There she started to recieve treatment for her mental conditions. Besides this, Lee also got a temporary restraining order against Debra that forbade her from visiting her daughters’. 

Debra Jeter did suffer some losses and her actions were a result of her mental conditions, but do you think the aftermath was any good?

Aftermath of the incident

As sson as the police pulled into the driveway of that house, Debra surrendered and put down the knife she used. Then the police went into the house to find Kelsey who was dead by this time but Kiersten was still breathing ruggedly. They airlifted Kiersten to a hospital in Dallas where she went through a surgery that saved her life. 

Even though Debra admitted to the attack and murder, police were confused. They found it really weird of why Debra did this when she was allowed to meet her daughters under no pressure. This question was unknotted a bit later during her sentencing. 

At that time, Debra pleaded guilty for all the charges and explained that she couldn’t process her divorce. This drastic approach was the second resort after her failed attempt of suicide. She also said that her actions were a result of how she was trying to cope up with her shattering marriage and family. 

At 33, she was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole and was spared from the death sentence considering her mental status and honest surrender. 

Almost after a year of her imprisonment, Lee and Kiersten visited Debra in jail. Lee recalls what Debra said about hating him but regretting her actions too. She felt dis-heartened about the divorce and losing custody and thought they were feeling the same. She took that step to end everyone’s pain at once. 

Well, it seemed Debra Jeter had her own way of dealing with pain that led her to this resort. Also, as a survivor, this incident scarred Kiersten for life. However, we can hope that she will be strong enough to overcome at least the psychological scar her mother gave her.

Also read: The Brutal Murder: Shayna Hubers Killed Her Boyfriend