On Monday, four and a half years after her arrest, Tenia Campbell of Medford was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison for suffocating her twin 2-year-old daughters to death.
Ms. Campbell, 28, was arrested a few miles west of Montauk Point on June 27, 2019, after a search involving multiple police jurisdictions. Her mother called 911 at 2:37 p.m. that day, telling police that her daughter was "driving around in the family van and was threatening to kill her daughters." Both girls, Jasmin and Jaida, were dead by the time an East Hampton Town police officer located the van.
Their mother pleaded guilty before State Supreme Court Justice Richard Ambro to two counts of first-degree murder, a violent felony, on Dec. 13. Her prison term will run concurrently with two one-year sentences stemming from charges that she assaulted four corrections officers in October 2023 while incarcerated at the county jail in Riverside, according to a county spokeswoman.
"These two young lives were cut short by the one person who was supposed to love and protect them," Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said in a statement. "Although the 20-year sentence here resolves this sad case, it will not bring back these girls."
Ms. Campbell's attorney, John Halverson, said at the time of her guilty plea that Ms. Campbell "is obviously living and dealing with what she did on a daily basis."
"She felt pleading guilty would bring some closure and she could try to move forward," he said. "She has been getting the mental health help she needed at the jail, and hopefully when she goes upstate, she can try to continue to improve."
Newsday reported that Ms. Campbell said in the courtroom that "people make mistakes" and that she "made the biggest one I'm ever gonna make in my lifetime."