The woman allegedly showed up at the county jail after changing into dry clothes and told police she’d just drowned her children, 1 and 3, to “send them to heaven.”
A woman in Indiana accused of drowning her two young children has pleaded guilty. Brittany Medina, 35, made the formal plea on Wednesday of guilty but mentally ill on two counts of neglect of a dependent resulting in death.
The judge advised that he would take the plea agreement “under advisement pending sentencing,” ordering a pre-sentence investigation, according to court documents reviewed by Law&Crime.
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The deal could result in murder charges being dismissed, but Medina is still facing up to 40 years in prison. Her sentencing is set for October 23.
Medina admitted to the crime almost right away, according to police, when she walked into the Lawrence County Jail at 4:50 p.m. on September 26, 2023, and allegedly told officers there that she had just “killed her two children ages one and three and drowned them in the bathroom.” She also reportedly handed over a key to the house.
After police rushed to the home and confirmed that the two children were indeed deceased together in the bathtub, Medina allegedly explained exactly what had happened that day, and why she claims to have done it.
According to an affidavit, Medina agreed to a post-Miranda interview that was recorded where she claimed to have taken half a gram of Xanax, a suboxone strip, and snorted three lines of cocaine on the night before she allegedly drowned her children.
She explained that their final day started off normally enough, with Medina feeding her son, 3, and daughter, 1, breakfast before putting cartoons on for the kids as her boyfriend headed off to work that morning. It was at around 2:30 p.m., according to Median, that she started hearing voices.
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The mother told officers, per the affidavit, that it was these voices that told her she “needed to send her children to heaven today or there will be someone come and take her children and her and place them in a dark hole.”
She continued to say she was told that “people would torture all three until the end of their lives if she didn’t send the children to heaven today.” It was after receiving this message from these voices, according to Medina’s interview, that she went into the bathroom and began to fill the tub.
After the tub was filled, Medina told police she put both of her children into the water, told them she loved them, kissed them, and then pushed them under the water “by holding them around their necks” until they stopped moving. “I ended up drowning them,” she allegedly said.
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When asked if she understood that these actions would results in the deaths of her children, Medina allegedly responded that she did. She also reiterated that she had started the bath with the intention to “send them to heaven.”
She explained, per the interview, that after drowning her children, she made her way into her bedroom to put on dry clothing. She then checked to make sure the children were “not moving,” observing them “laying in the bathtub.” She explained that “the water was completely still,” and so satisfied, she drove herself to the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department and turned herself in.
If you or someone you know needs help with mental health text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741. You can also call 988 to be connected to a trained crisis counselor. Both services offer free, confidential 24/7 support for people in distress.
