Late Monday night, Bucks County Pennsylvania District Attorney Matthew Weintraub announced that mother and daughter Shana Decree, 45 and Dominique Decree, 19, are being charged with murdering five members of their immediate family.
Weintraub said the pair were being charged with five counts each of homicide in the murders of Decree’s two children, her sister, and her twin nieces. Weintraub would not say how they were killed. Both of the women are in custody.
Dead are Decree’s daughter Naa’Irah Smith, 25, and son Damon Decree Jr, 13, her sister Jamilla Campbell, 42, and Campbell’s twin daughters – Decree’s nieces – Imani and Erika Allen, 9.
FacebookJamilla Campbell, Naa’Irah Smith and Damon Decree Jr
Police are looking for Campbell’s son, Joshua, 17, but not as a suspect, Weintraub said.
On Monday afternoon, in Morrisville, Pennsylvania, police said they found four people dead inside an apartment, but without any apparent injuries. Two others at the home were alive and transported to an area hospital. By Monday night, it was reported authorities now say five people were found dead inside the first-floor two-bedroom apartment.
According to the Bucks County Courier Times, “The fifth body was found in the unit hours after the investigation began late Monday afternoon. Police confirmed the discovery around 10 p.m. Monday.” The fifth body was found under another body.
Three females and one male were found dead in a bedroom, it was initially reported by the Bucks County Courier Times. Names and ages have not been released.
Neighbors told a reporter they were desperate to know what happened.
Police were doing a well-being check at around 4 p.m., a call performed when family or work colleagues have not heard from someone and are concerned when the bodies were found in a ground floor apartment, Levittownnow.com reported.
The news website reported that Morrisville Chief of Police George McClay said “there were no obvious signs of trauma …”
Neighbors told local media they saw hazardous materials crews at the scene at the Robert Morris Apartments on West Bridge Street. On its Facebook page, the Morrisville Borough Police Department said there’s no danger to the community. Local media reported fire department personnel “did not detect high levels of hazardous materials upon entrance.”
The dead are of various ages, but those ages were not provided, it was reported. At least two local media outlets reported that teenagers may be among the dead. Two people were alive at the scene; one “dazed” and another suffering seizures. That person was transported to an area hospital. Foul play is suspected and local homicide detectives were reported to be at the location.
The local ABC affiliate reported that the Bucks County District Attorney’s office confirmed county detectives are investigating.
Morrisville is in Bucks County, around 30 miles northeast of Philadelphia.
This is a developing story.