UPDATE @ 11:30 p.m.: Brittany Pilkington, in her confession to killing her three sons in a span of 13 months, told authorities she committed the slayings because their father paid more attention to them than he did to his daughter, Logan County Prosecutor William Goslee said tonight.
Pilkington, 23, is in the county jail on three counts of murder. She also told authorities she used a blanket to suffocate her sons, Goslee told News Center 7’s Kate Bartley.
Pilkington’s father, Ed Cummins, said he last saw his daughter at a funeral for one of the sons.
“I’m blown away,” he told Bartley. “I have no clue what to think. She was quiet, wasn’t broken down, but I thought maybe she was like me. holding tough for the family.”
Noah, the 3-month-old who died Tuesday, and his 3-year-old sister Hailey had been in foster care until six days ago, Goslee told the Springfield News-Sun.
During a recent three-day hearing, both the prosecutor’s office and the Logan County Department of Job and Family Services remained adamant that the children shouldn’t be returned to their parents, Goslee said, because they still didn’t know the cause of death for the other two Pilkington children.
County Family Court Judge Dan Bratka found the evidence was insufficient to justify keeping the children out of their parents care, Goslee said.
The prosecutor’s office didn’t have an official coroner’s report or a confession, Goslee said, but rather an extraordinary set of circumstances. Prosecutors wanted to keep the children longer to perform psychological evaluations and take a closer look at the family, he said.
“The problem there is we were operating on a hunch and a belief, not solid evidence … Hindsight is 20/20. So if a judge is looking at the evidence, I’m not going to needlessly criticize a judge. I don’t sit in his role,” Goslee said.
Bratka declined comment because the case is ongoing.
EARLIER REPORT
Brittany Pilkington, the Bellefontaine mother police said has confessed to killing her three sons during a period of 13 months, is in custody.
Bellefontaine police Chief Brandon Standley said Pilkington has been charged with three counts of murder and has been taken to the Logan County Jail. She is in her early 20s.
Standley told reporters this afternoon that a police investigation of Pilkington began after the death of 3-month-old Noah Pilkington earlier this morning. Police were dispatched to the woman’s address, in the 800 block of East Sandusky Avenue, just after 3 a.m. on a call from her to 911 reporting that her son was not breathing.
Noah was taken to Mary Rutan Hospital, where he was pronounced dead by Logan County Coroner Dr. Michael Failor.
“Due to this being the third such incident at this same residence, involving similar circumstances, officers began a tedious investigation,” Standley said in a prepared statement. Both Brittany and the father, Joseph Pilkington, were cooperative in today’s investigation, the chief said.
On July 22, 2014, 3-month-old Niall Pilkington was found dead by his father when he arrived home from work. The cause of death was listed as undetermined at the time, based on testing and lack of evidence at the scene, according to police.
On April 6 of this year, 4-year-old Gavin Pilkington was found dead by his father — again when he arrived home from work. The open investigation into Gavin’s death by the coroner’s office and police department is continuing, the chief said.
He said police began interviewing Brittany this morning, after Noah’s death, because she was the common factor in all three deaths, the chief said. The investigation, which involves the Logan County coroner, the county prosecutor and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, continues.
The Bellefontaine Examiner is reporting that investigators have found no signs of trauma or evidence of foul play in the deaths. The newspaper also is reporting that Noah and his 3-year-old sister, Hailey, were in foster care until about a week ago and that Hailey has been removed from the household yet again.
County Prosecutor William Goslee told the Examiner that his office and Logan County Children Services have never waivered from the position that the children should not be returned to their parents.
“The tragic deaths of Niall, Gavin and Noah leave a pit in our stomachs today,” Standley said in a prepared statement.
