An Irving woman was indicted on two capital murder charges Monday by a Dallas grand jury, after she told police she killed her two young daughters in April.
Irving police said the woman, identified as 30-year-old Madison McDonald, came to the police station at about 10 p.m. Monday on O'Connor Road and used the phone in the lobby to call 911.
Police said she told 911 operators that she killed her two daughters, 1-year-old Lillian Mae McDonald and 6-year-old Archer Hammond, by first sedating them and then smothering them before tucking them into their beds.
McDonald faces either life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty if she is convicted on the capital murder charges.
Officers were dispatched the woman's home on the 700 block of Cowboys Parkway and confirmed that both of the children were deceased.
A probable cause affidavit obtained by NBC 5 on Tuesday afternoon indicated McDonald said her children were being abused and "that she would do anything to protect her children including 'eliminating them.'"
"This is obviously a horrific incident and we may not ever know the why, right, because there's not ever going to be a definition or reason that would ever justify the murder of two children," said Irving Police Officer Robert Reeves.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
McDonald was taken into custody in the police station lobby and is facing two charges of capital murder of a person under 10 years of age.
Video released by the Irving Police Department showed McDonald, in shorts, a sweatshirt, and face mask, walking around the empty lobby for several minutes apparently looking for a phone or a police officer. Nearly 20 minutes after she arrived, three officers can be seen entering the lobby to talk with McDonald.
At about 10:24 p.m., the officers escorted her to a secured part of the station.
In custody at a Dallas County jail, McDonald's bond was set at $6 million.
