Published: 22:46 EST, 18 August 2015 | Updated: 01:03 EST, 19 August 2015
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Shocking: Brittany Pilkington, 23, has admitted to killing three of her own sons because her husband didn't pay enough attention to their daughter
A woman calmly called 911 to report her baby boy wasn't breathing on Tuesday and then hours later confessed to killing him and her two other young sons over the past months because her husband ignored their daughter, authorities said.
Brittany Pilkington was charged with three counts of murder and was jailed, said police in Bellefontaine, about 60 miles northwest of Columbus.
Pilkington is accused in Tuesday's death of three-month-old Noah and in the deaths of four-year-old Gavin, who died in April, and three-month-old Niall, who died in July 2014.
No working telephone number for the family's home could be found, and no attorney information was available for the mother.
Police said officers went to the family's apartment on Tuesday morning after an emergency call from the mother saying Noah wasn't breathing.
They said she calmly answered a dispatcher's questions while the baby's sleep apnea alarm beeped in the background. Noah was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Logan County prosecutor William Goslee told The Columbus Dispatch he interviewed Brittany Pilkington and she confessed to killing each of her sons by placing a blanket over their heads and suffocating them.
'In her mind,' Goslee said, 'she was protecting her daughter from being not as loved as the boys were by their father'.
The daughter, three-year-old Hailey, was taken into custody by a county child welfare agency.
Authorities already were investigating what happened to Niall and Gavin, whose causes of death haven't been determined. In each of those cases, their father, Joseph Pilkington, found them unresponsive when he got home from work.
'Our son's not breathing,' Brittany Pilkington said meekly to a dispatcher when she called police on April 6 as her husband frantically gave Gavin chest compressions. 'He's turning white.'
Joseph and Brittany Pilkington were cooperative on Tuesday, police said. She eventually told detectives that she killed all three boys, police said.
Gavin Pilkington, four, (left) died in April and Niall Pilkington, three months, (right) died in July 2014. Their brother Noah died at three months old on Tuesday. Their mother says she smothered them all with a blanket
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Scene: Police said officers went to the family's apartment on Tuesday morning after an emergency call from the mother saying Noah wasn't breathing
'The tragic deaths of Niall, Gavin and Noah leave a pit in our stomachs today,' police chief Brandon K. Standley said in a statement.
'Our condolences go out to the remaining family members who have supported this family through a very difficult 13 months.'
Brittany Pilkington's uncle Joe Skaggs said Hailey and Noah had been with Logan County Children's Services after Gavin's death and were returned to their parents this month.
'Why would you give them back after a little boy just died and when you're in the middle of an investigation?' Skaggs, standing in front of his niece's apartment, told the Dispatch.
A voicemail system at the agency wouldn't accept messages after hours Tuesday. But Goslee, the prosecutor, said Hailey and Noah were given back to their parents after a coroner determined Gavin's and Niall's deaths weren't suspicious.
The Pilkingtons' neighbor James Breaston was home, across the hall from the family, when Gavin died in April. He remembered consoling a distraught Joseph Pilkington but finding Brittany Pilkington unperturbed.
'He was crying, the tears were rolling, and she was just cold,' Breaston told the Dispatch. 'She just stared like nothing happened.'
He said that when saw police arrive on Tuesday morning he thought, 'Oh, there's another baby dead.'
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and where was the father and other family members through the years that this all happened?
It was probably attributed to SIDS and no one thought anything of it. It said the baby's "sleep apnea monitor" was alarming. Once you have a child die of SIDS you are more likely to have another die of SIDS. My guess is that they blamed the first two on SIDS and this one was given an alarm to monitor his breathing. The father was probably at work trying to support the family and usually, unless you're living with them, by three months most family isn't hanging around all the time.
There is a true life story about a lady who did this same thing to seven of her kids. Some of them were adopted and some were her natural kids. It took them a long time to figure out what she was up to. I can't remember the name of the book right off hand.
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“You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I'll rise!” ― Maya Angelou
And honestly, let's use you for an example, if you came to us and told us that you lost a baby to SIDS we would feel bad for you. We like you and have no reason to doubt you. Then you come along and tell us you lost your next baby to SIDS and the doctors are saying once you lose a child you're more likely to lose another one. We would all be very sad for you. Just like if you miscarried twice. We wouldn't jump to the conclusion that you are a baby killer. Then comes baby three and you assure us the doctors gave you a machine and it's going to be better. No one wants to believe someone they know is capable of killing a baby. No one. It's easier to say SIDS than to think someone in your family is purposely killing their own children.
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“You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I'll rise!” ― Maya Angelou
and where was the father and other family members through the years that this all happened?
It was probably attributed to SIDS and no one thought anything of it. It said the baby's "sleep apnea monitor" was alarming. Once you have a child die of SIDS you are more likely to have another die of SIDS. My guess is that they blamed the first two on SIDS and this one was given an alarm to monitor his breathing. The father was probably at work trying to support the family and usually, unless you're living with them, by three months most family isn't hanging around all the time.
There is a true life story about a lady who did this same thing to seven of her kids. Some of them were adopted and some were her natural kids. It took them a long time to figure out what she was up to. I can't remember the name of the book right off hand.
Except the second kid was 4- too old for SIDS. But yea, I can see them trying to see the best in a sketchy situation.
Exactly, you would never want to believe your sister, daughter, or someone else close in your family would kill a child. It's just so hard to wrap your head around. That's why sometimes, even when presented with the truth, husbands and wives just can't believe their spouse could do something so horrible. People will say, NO WAY. Because to people like you and I we couldn't even fathom it.
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“You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I'll rise!” ― Maya Angelou
And I am NOT justifying it. No way. I'm just trying to explain why family members wouldn't realize what's going on.
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“You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I'll rise!” ― Maya Angelou
and where was the father and other family members through the years that this all happened?
It was probably attributed to SIDS and no one thought anything of it. It said the baby's "sleep apnea monitor" was alarming. Once you have a child die of SIDS you are more likely to have another die of SIDS. My guess is that they blamed the first two on SIDS and this one was given an alarm to monitor his breathing. The father was probably at work trying to support the family and usually, unless you're living with them, by three months most family isn't hanging around all the time.
There is a true life story about a lady who did this same thing to seven of her kids. Some of them were adopted and some were her natural kids. It took them a long time to figure out what she was up to. I can't remember the name of the book right off hand.
Except the second kid was 4- too old for SIDS. But yea, I can see them trying to see the best in a sketchy situation.
They would likely think their was some kind of congenital defect. It doesn't sound like the kids had any sign of abuse or anything. And it's one thing to suspect, and another to prove, you know?
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LawyerLady
I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you.
I can honestly see someone getting away with this. I, for one, would not assume my friend was killing her children.
__________________
“You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I'll rise!” ― Maya Angelou