A California woman was arrested Thursday after police say she killed her 10-month-old twins while staying free at a hotel in Tulare, after apparently leaving a women’s shelter.
NBC2 reports that Heather Langdon, 37, is accused of murdering her infant boys, Mason and Maddox Murguia, at the Virginia Motor Lodge at 709 S K Street, by allegedly drowning them both in the hotel room bathtub. According to Sergeant Jon Hamlin, Langdon was given a free night at the hotel by a non-profit agency after policed escorted her away from a women’s shelter for allegedly making too many disturbances.
“Officers arrived there and the shelter asked that she leave the for causing the disturbances,” Hamlin said.
Family members told authorities that Langdon and the twins’ father, who have two teens and a 5-year-old together, had been divorced a few years when the incident occurred. It’s unclear why she had been staying at the women’s shelter.
OFFICIAL MUGSHOT: Heather Langdon is at the Tulare County Pre-Trial Facility, charged with murder and willful child endangerment. Her court date is set for Dec. 10th. pic.twitter.com/LJbzpNTvx9
— Justin Lum (@JustinLumLive) December 7, 2018
Surveillance footage captured police dropping Langdon and the babies off at the hotel on Wednesday night. According to The Washington Times, police never had any contact with the suspect prior to the night they dropped her off. Hamlin indicated that if officers thought she was going to be a danger to herself or her babies, they would have contacted the appropriate agency for mental health assistance.
At 3:45 p.m. the following day, officers arrived at the hotel and arrested Langdon after someone at the hotel flagged police down. When officers arrived, both babies were not breathing. Paramedics attempted CPR, then rushed the boys to a local hospital, where they were pronounced dead.
“She kept saying that ‘I almost drowned them. I almost drowned by babies’ and she was trying to help the babies but I didn’t know that they were already deceased,” witness Maria Marez, who was at the hotel that night, said. “Sad. Real sad that I saw something like that.”
The suspect’s sister told YourCentralValley News that she saw Langdon the weekend prior and everything seemed normal.
“It was just an every day and she seemed normal,” Teresa Langdon explained.
On Wednesday night, however, Teresa felt something was off and said she wished she would have taken the babies back to her home after learning the suspect was at a hotel.
“We will never put the pieces back together but we ask that you keep us all in your prayers as we do the best we can,” Teresa said, explaining she never would have thought her sister would ever harm her children.
Langdon remains behind bars without bond. She’s facing first-degree murder charges.
Check back with CrimeOnline as additional details become available.
[Feature Photo: Mason and Maddox Murguia/GoFundMe]
