DALLAS — It took a Dallas County jury less than an hour to return a guilty verdict for the Irving mother who confessed to killing her two young daughters.
Madison McDonald, 30 at the time of the slayings, was sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole for two counts of capital murder.
In April 2021, McDonald drove to the Irving Police Department about 10 p.m. and used the phone in the lobby to call 911, police previously said, adding that she told dispatchers she had killed her daughters, 1-year-old Lillian Mae McDonald and 6-year-old Archer Hammond.
McDonald’s trial began last week with defense attorneys arguing that McDonald was criminally ill. She had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
A video played in court showed McDonald tell police she deserved the consequences, KXAS-TV reported.
A clinical and and forensic psychologist, Dr. Kristi Compton, told the jury McDonald was aware of her actions, the TV station reported.
“Turning oneself in indicates awareness and knowledge that one did wrong and that it’s some sort of crime,” Compton said.
Right after the murders, McDonald had told police she sedated and smothered her kids before tucking them into bed at their apartment, an affidavit says.
According to the affidavit, McDonald told officers her daughters were being abused and she would do anything to protect them, including “eliminating them.”
Dallas attorneys Thomas Ashworth and Daniel Lewis represented McDonald in the case.
“The circumstances of this case are an absolute tragedy for all involved,” Ashworth and Lewis said in a statement. “Although we firmly believe that Madison did this as a result of her severe psychosis and insanity, we respect the jury’s verdict.”
The Dallas District Attorney’s Office declined to comment on the conviction.
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