Brittany Medina (Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department) and her children Jackson and Maddie (via Facebook)
When Brittany Danielle Medina was taken into custody Tuesday on charges that she murdered her 1-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son, before autopsies had even been conducted, it was clear that investigators knew more than they were saying publicly. Now charging documents obtained by Law&Crime have alleged that the 33-year-old Indiana mother confessed that she drowned Madelyn Shelton and Jackson Shelton to “send them to heaven.”
According to state authorities, Medina walked into the Lawrence County Jail at 4:50 p.m. on Sept. 26 and said she killed her children.
A Mitchell Police Department officer and a Lawrence County sheriff’s detective were the first to arrive at the West Brook Street and 13th Street where Madelyn and Jackson were found dead in the bathroom.
The affidavit, written by Indiana State Police Detective Timothy Cummins, alleged that Medina provided a key to the residence after she was read her Miranda rights and “stated she killed her two children ages one and three and drowned them in the bathroom.”
The defendant apparently made several statements in a interview, the audio and video of which were recorded.
The affidavit said the Medina took half a gram of Xanax, a suboxone strip, and snorted three lines of cocaine the night before she killed the children. After her boyfriend Ryan went to work early the following morning, Medina allegedly made breakfast and put on cartoons for Madelyn and Jackson.
Around 2:30 p.m., Medina started hearing voices telling her she “needed to send her children to heaven today or there will be someone come and take her children and her and place them in a dark hole,” according to the affidavit’s summary of what she said.
“Medina advised the voices indicate the people would torture all three until the end of their lives if she didn’t send the children to heaven today,” the affidavit said. “Medina indicated she then went into the bathroom closest to the master bedroom and began to fill the bathtub with water.”
Medina allegedly told Madelyn and Jackson she loved them, kissed them, and held both children under water at the same time until they stopped moving.
“I ended up drowning them,” the suspect allegedly told cops.
Asked if she knew her actions would result in the deaths of her children, Medina allegedly replied in the affirmative. She allegedly reiterated that she started the bath to “send them to heaven.”
At the end of the interview, the defendant allegedly said she drove to the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department to turn herself in.
Responding police entered the residence around 7 p.m. and found both children in the tub, Jackson without clothes and Madelyn wearing a “flowered onesie.”
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Medina now faces two murder charges and two charges for neglect of a dependent resulting in death.
Brittany Medina, Madelyn and Jackson (images via Facebook)
Medina reportedly remains in the Lawrence County Jail without bond.
As Law&Crime reported earlier this week, Medina’s Facebook profile included several pictures of the Jackson and Madelyn, some of them with the two children together.
Brittany Medina Facebook post of Jackson smiling from July 13, 2023.
“Hes my precious boy!” Medina posted in April 2020, months after Jackson was born. In July, she posted a photo of Jackson smiling “super big” and said the image “melts my heart.”
Denise McCormick, Jackson and Madelyn’s grandmother, told local Fox affiliate WXIN that Medina is mentally ill.
“She did wrong, she killed my grandkids, but she has a mental illness,” McCormick reportedly said tearfully. “We just ask for prayers from everybody.”
She also asked for privacy.
McCormick said her grandchildren were “precious, precious angels.”
“They were just babies,” she said. “The little one-year-old had a beautiful smile on her face all the time. She was never angry. They were babies.”
Read the probable cause affidavit here.
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