Morrisville Mom, Daughter Admit Killing 5 Family Members (ICYMI)

MORRISVILLE, PA — A mother and daughter who killed five of their own family members, including three children, in a Bucks County apartment have pleaded guilty, but mentally ill, in the case.

Shana Decree, 47, and Dominique Decree, 21, pleaded guilty, but mentally ill, Monday to five counts of first-degree murder. They were sentenced to five consecutive life sentences by Court of Common Pleas Judge Wallace H. Bateman, Jr.

Bateman called the case "horrific and sad at the same time."

The women were found disoriented in a bed after the 2019 killings in Morrisville and would later tell police the deaths, in which their family members were strangled and suffocated, were part of a murder-suicide pact.

On Feb. 25, 2019, police found the bodies of five people in a unit of the Robert Morris Apartments in Morrisville. They were identified as Shana Decree's children, Naa'Irah Smith, 25, and Damon Decree Jr., 13, as well as her sister Jamilla Campbell, 42, of Trenton, N.J., and Campbell's 9-year-old twin daughters, Imani and Erika Allen.

The Bucks County Coroner would rule that four of the victims died of asphyxiation and the fifth died from strangulation.

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Shana Decree told investigators that all of the family members, even the children, wanted to die.

Dominique Decree, who had injuries to her neck repeatedly told investigators she had also wanted to die, according to a police affidavit.

After the sentencing, Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher Rees said he had "never dealt with a case as heartbreaking as this."

"I have never seen a case with this level of sadness, with this level of loss," said Rees. "If you have kids, go hug your kids. If you have parents who are still around, if you have brothers and sisters go give them a hug. If you can't give them a hug, give them a call, send then a text, send them an email."

Roughly 16 relatives attended an emotional court hearing on Monday. Damon Decree, Sr., spoke about losing his son, Damon, Jr., in the killings and his daughter, Dominique, to prison. He said he would never get to watch his son grow up, left only with "thoughts of what might have been."

Rees, who prosecuted the case, read victim impact statements from three other relatives. One of them was from Naa'Irah Smith's sister, who said it felt "like a bulldozer ran over" here when she heard about the killings.