We’ve been upset by this horrible story since it broke — and here’s a sickening new twist. This stepmom now admits it — she killed her stepchildren because she wanted more time for herself!
Investigators say Heather Leavell-Keaton spilled her guts to another Mobile, Ala., county jail inmate, revealing that she fed antifreeze to her stepkids, deliberately poisoning the tots so they’d be out of her life.
On Feb. 14, Detective Angela Prine testified during a preliminary hearing on capital-murder charges that Leavell-Keaton had confessed. The stepmom told the inmate that she and the kids’ dad, John DeBlase, killed the tots because “it would be better if they had less responsibilities.” And get this — on the way to dumping one of the toddler’s bodies, they dashed off to buy video games!
This father left his infant in the car while he went gambling!
DeBlase was charged with felony murder after he admitted dumping 4-year-old Natalie’s body in the woods north of Mobile in March. He then left Chase’s body in Mississippi in June. The 3-year-old was stuffed into a plastic bag. Prosecutors charge that Leavell-Keaton bound Natalie’s hands and feet with duct tape, stuffed a sock in her mouth and squeezed her into a suitcase in a closet for about 14 hours.
Search teams discovered the body of little Chase on Dec. 8 — and his older sister’s three days later.
Even after those sickening details were revealed, the latest admission is still stomach-turning. And that’s not all there is. Roseanna Russell, the inmate who heard the confession, also claimed that the evil stepmom had told her that the couple first tried to poison their dog “to find out how long it would take to kill a living thing.” Shortly after that, police say, Heather and John started feeding the poison to the kids.
Mom killed her two kids — experts say the warning signs were missed!
According to the latest testimony, the couple stopped giving antifreeze to Chase for about a month. But when the little boy started crying and asking about his sister, they began feeding him the poison again.
If Heather is found guilty, she could be sentenced to life in prison — or even executed.
Can anyone ever explain how these parents could come to the decision to murder their own kids … and in such a disturbing way! This whole situation is just unimaginable.
– Lindsey DiMattina