DALLAS COUNTY, Texas — A woman who confessed to killing her two daughters in 2021 has been sentenced to life in prison, officials say.
Madison McDonald was found guilty of capital murder in the death of her daughters, 1-year-old Lillian Mae McDonald and 6-year-old Archer Hammond.
In April 2021, McDonald went to the Irving Police Department and used the phone in the lobby to dial 911. She told dispatch she killed her daughters by smothering them.
Following her confession, she was taken into custody and Irving police officers immediately responded to her residence at the Anthem Apartments in the 700 block of Cowboys Parkway, where they found both girls dead.
According to the arrest affidavit, McDonald told police her daughters were being abused and that she would do anything to protect them, including "eliminating" them.
McDonald's murder trial began last week. Her defense attorneys told the jury McDonald suffers from mental health disorders and wasn't aware that what she did to her daughters was wrong. Her attorneys then asked the jury to find McDonald not guilty by reason of insanity.
A Dallas County jury found McDonald guilty on two counts of capital murder on Wednesday, April 19. She will spend the rest of her life behind bars without the possibility of parole.