Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio judge has agreed a woman was insane when she killed her two children and has ordered her institutionalized at a mental health facility.
Thirty-one-year-old Claudena Helton was charged with aggravated murder for fatally shooting 8-year-old daughter Khmorra and 6-year-old son Kaiden in May 2017 in the southeast Ohio city of Dayton.
The Dayton Daily News reports a Montgomery County judge accepted Helton's insanity plea at a hearing Friday and ordered a review in six months.
Helton's attorney said two psychological reports concluded she was not guilty by reason of insanity and a third said she was competent to stand trial.
Neighbors told police Helton was in a trance-like state after the slayings.
Helton told police she killed her children to "save them from the evils of the world."
___
Information from: Dayton Daily News, http://www.daytondailynews.com
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
