A Bellefontaine police officer questioned the behavior of a woman charged with the murder of her three children.
The second time officers responded to a 911 call from Brittany Pilkington’s home, her behavior raised a red flag for Sergeant Donald Shields.
Shields writes in the incident report she lacked a sense of urgency or emotion. And she did not question the condition of her son. Shields describes 23-year-old Pilkington as “lethargic,” “tired,” and “expressionless,” and that she refused rides to the hospital.
Bellefontaine Police Chief Brandon Standley said that was suspicious.
“She did not appear to have a normal or even a close to normal reaction," he said.
Four-year-old Gavin Pilkington’s death, in April, prompted an investigation. He was the second son to die in nine months.
“We not only had the infant that died back in 2014, in July, but now you fast forward a few months, into April, when Gavin passed away. Then absolutely it doesn’t add up," Standley said.
Children Services removed the other children from the home. But a judge soon returned them because the cause of the two deaths was undetermined. And police had no evidence to charge anyone in the deaths.
But in August, a third son died. Police say this time Pilkington confessed to smothering the children. A Logan County Grand Jury indicted her on three counts of aggravated murder.