BEDFORD, IN – A southern Indiana mother faces the prospect of spending the rest of her life in prison after admitting to drowning her two young children at home last fall.
Brittany Medina, 35, pleaded guilty but mentally ill on Wednesday to two counts of neglect of a dependent resulting in death. The charges stem from the September 2023 deaths of her son and daughter, ages 3 and 1. The plea was entered before Lawrence County Superior Court Judge John M. Plummer III, who has not yet determined Medina’s sentence and is awaiting a pre-sentence investigation report scheduled for next month.
According to court documents, two murder charges may be dropped if the current agreement is finalized. The sentencing hearing has been set for October 23, with Medina remaining in custody until then.
Authorities say Medina walked into the Lawrence County Jail in Bedford on the afternoon of September 26, 2023, and told staff she had killed her children at home. Officers responded to the residence on West Brook Street, where the bodies of 3-year-old Jackson Shelton and 1-year-old Madelyn Shelton were discovered in a bathtub in her bedroom’s bathroom.
Investigators reported that Medina provided detailed accounts of the events surrounding the children’s deaths. According to the affidavit, she told detectives she had consumed a mix of substances the night before, including Xanax, Suboxone, and cocaine. The following morning, after her boyfriend left for work, Medina made breakfast, put on cartoons for the children, and soon after, began experiencing auditory hallucinations.
Medina allegedly described hearing voices instructing her to “send her children to heaven today” or face dire consequences for her family. She said the voices warned her that if she failed to act, they would all be subjected to prolonged suffering.
She recounted leading her children to the bathroom, expressing her love for them before holding them underwater until they ceased struggling. Afterward, she told officers she checked to confirm the children were motionless before changing into dry clothes and driving to the sheriff’s department to confess.
Police said they arrived at the family home around 7 p.m. that same evening. The children were found in the bathtub; Madelyn was dressed in a flower-patterned onesie, while Jackson was unclothed.
In interviews with detectives, Medina acknowledged understanding that her actions would end her children’s lives, stating she deliberately started the bath “to send them to heaven.”
Medina’s guilty but mentally ill plea means she will receive treatment for mental health issues during her incarceration, but she will still serve her sentence in prison once treatment is deemed complete. Her formal sentencing next month will determine the length of time she is behind bars.
The tragic case has left the Bedford community grappling with the circumstances that led to the children’s deaths and raises ongoing questions about the intersection of mental health and criminal justice.