In a tragic and deeply disturbing case from Indiana, a 35-year-old mother has pleaded guilty but mentally ill after drowning her 3-year-old son and 1-year-old daughter in the bathtub. Brittany Medina told authorities she did it to “send them to heaven” after hearing voices, according to court records.
The case has shaken the Lawrence County community and raised difficult questions about mental illness, drug use, and the systems in place to prevent such horrors.
Guilty Plea and Upcoming Sentencing
Medina appeared in Lawrence County Superior Court on Wednesday and formally pleaded guilty but mentally ill to two counts of neglect of a dependent resulting in death. As part of the plea deal, two murder charges would be dropped if the agreement is accepted.
Judge John M. Plummer III said he would take the plea under advisement and ordered a pre-sentence investigation report to be completed before the sentencing hearing, which is scheduled for October 23 at 9 a.m.
If accepted, the plea would still likely mean Medina spends the rest of her life in prison due to the seriousness of the charges.
How the Murders Unfolded
On September 26, 2023, Medina walked into the Lawrence County Jail and confessed that she had killed her children, Madelyn (1) and Jackson Shelton (3). After being read her rights, she provided a house key and told police exactly where to find the bodies.
When officers arrived at the home on West Brook Street, they found both children dead in the bathtub in the bathroom connected to Medina’s bedroom.
Drug Use and Mental Health Crisis
According to Medina’s statements, she consumed a dangerous mix of Xanax, a suboxone strip, and three lines of cocaine the night before the incident. After her boyfriend left for work the next morning, she gave the children breakfast and put on cartoons.
Later that afternoon, around 2:30 p.m., she said she began hearing voices telling her she needed to “send her children to heaven” or that someone would take all three of them and torture them for life.
“The voices said people would torture all three until the end of their lives if she didn’t act,” the affidavit said.
Medina then filled the bathtub, kissed and told the children she loved them, and held them underwater by their necks until they stopped moving.
“I ended up drowning them,” Medina allegedly told police.
When asked if she knew this would kill them, she reportedly said yes and again repeated that her intention was to “send them to heaven.”
After the Killings
Medina told investigators that after the drownings, she changed her clothes, checked on the children, and saw the water was “completely still.” She then got in her car and drove straight to the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office, where she confessed.
Police arrived at the home around 7 p.m., finding Jackson unclothed in the tub and Madelyn in a flowered onesie, both lifeless.
This heartbreaking case reveals the dangerous combination of mental illness, substance abuse, and lack of timely intervention. Brittany Medina’s guilty but mentally ill plea acknowledges both her criminal responsibility and her mental health crisis.
With sentencing expected in October, the court will now decide the consequences for a mother who ended the lives of her own children, believing—however tragically—that she was saving them from something worse.
