Police: Irving mom confessed to murdering 1 and 6-year-old daughters
IRVING, Texas - A 30-year-old North Texas woman was arrested and charged for the deaths of her two young daughters.
Irving police say Madison McDonald went to the police department’s headquarters Monday night and used the phone in the lobby to call 911.
McDonald told the dispatch officer she had smothered her two daughters: 1-year-old Lillian Mae McDonald and 6-year-old Archer Hammond.
"The exact determination of how they died will have to be determined by the medical examiner’s office but that is what she believed is how she killed the two daughters," said Irving Police Officer Robert Reeves.
According to the arrest affidavit, McDonald said her children were allegedly abused and she would do anything to protect them, including "eliminating them."
Video shows McDonald at the police headquarters for about 10 minutes, wearing a mask and pacing around calmly before she used the lobby phone to call 911.
Investigators say she told the 911 operator that she killed her two children.
McDonald was holding items in her hands in the lobby. Police say those items included documents and two baby blankets.
"We’re trying to figure out the why," Reeves said. "In a situation like this, this is obviously a horrific incident where two children were murdered. We may not ever know the why because there’s not going to be a definition or a reason that would ever justify the murder of two small children."
At the same time, police responded to the Anthem Apartments about 10 minutes away from the police department and found the bodies of the two children. McDonald lived alone with her two daughters.
It’s unclear how long the children were dead, but investigators say McDonald told dispatch she sedated and smothered them.
The arrest warrant affidavit says McDonald told police her children were "being abused" and that she "would do anything to protect them, including eliminating them."
Police did say they have been to the home before but would not say why. McDonald has no prior criminal history.
FOX 4 contacted Child Protective Services, which would only say it does have a history with the family but would not provide any more details about a mother now facing two capital murder charges.
Reeves said the pandemic has, unfortunately, led to an increase in domestic violence and crimes in the home.
"All I can keep encouraging people is if you know someone that’s going through a situation don’t choose to not get involved. Choose to be that advocate for that victim," he said. "Contact your local police department and let them at least come out and assess the situation and figure out if someone’s in danger."
McDonald is charged with two counts of capital murder of a person under the age of 10. She’s currently being held in the Irving city jail with no bail and will soon be transferred to the Dallas County jail.
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