A mother named L. Snyder, 41, has been sentenced to spend the rest of her life in jail for killing her 8-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter.
This is a shocking case that has shocked people in Pennsylvania. Snyder did something horrible by hanging the kids from a beam in their house with a dog leash. She tried to hide it by saying the kids had made a suicide deal with each other.
Snyder called 911 on September 23, 2019, to report that her children had been hanged in their home. This was the first time the tragedy was made public.
When the first rescuers got there, they saw two children hanging from a beam with two chairs that had been turned over on top of them. Even though everyone tried to save them right away, both kids died three days after being flown to a hospital.
Investigators say Snyder was the one who killed her son and then tried to make it look like her son killed his younger sister and then killed himself. As the probe went on, it became clear that the scene had been carefully set up.
Authorities and rescuers noticed that Snyder was acting very anxious and nervous, which wasn’t like a mother who had just lost a child, who would normally be shocked and sad. This observation was a key part of questioning her account of what happened.
Snyder’s case was strengthened by proof that she had looked up ways to kill herself and hang herself on the internet in the days before the killings. Notably, these searches were done using her son’s Google profile, which suggests that she planned to link her son to the story of two people committing suicide because of bullying.
Many people who knew the boy strongly disagreed with this claim. They said he was a happy child who probably wouldn’t hurt himself or his sister.
Snyder’s actions after the tragedy also raised doubts, especially her text message to a friend saying she needed “two strong drinks” and her admission that she would be arrested soon. This conversation showed that she knew how bad what she did was and was expecting legal consequences.
Snyder was on trial for seven days in September for more than just murder. She was also charged with endangering the safety of a child and tampering with physical evidence. The court found her guilty of all charges, which meant she was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder.
The judge, T. Johnson, gave Snyder two life sentences in a row for the murders and another 8 1/2 to 17 years for the lesser crimes. The sentencing is a sad end to a case that had a big impact on the community and led to talks about mental health and how to keep kids safe from domestic violence.
A judge wouldn’t accept a plea deal that would have allowed Snyder to plead “not guilty” but mentally sick. This shows how serious the crime was and how people need to be held accountable without favoritism.
This terrible event not only shows how important it is to have strong community and social support systems, but it also shows how terrible mental health problems can be for families and communities if they are not treated.
Snyder is starting her life sentence today, and the community is still grieving the deaths of two young people. It is hoped that this case will lead to more understanding and better ways to protect children in need in the future.
