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September 20, 2025 15 mins
Season 23 : No Theme 

In June of 2009, Debra Jeter called 911 and told the operator that she had killed her children. She was arrested, but the question of why she did it, would never really be answered.

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
He'll county nine one one. What's your emergency? I just
killed my children. Excuse me, I just killed my children.
Where are you? I'm in the abandoned house on Hollway
seventy seven. Run after you go underneath the hollway. One
of them is still alive. Hurry, how under what highway?

(00:20):
You're on? Highway seventy seven? Where on Hallway seventy seven?
Right after you go under thirty five going towards Milford?
Didan angelas out here to say? The one that didn't
go on? Are it? What's your name? It's called in?
Have you already called them? Yes?

Speaker 2 (00:34):
Be my am?

Speaker 1 (00:35):
Okay, I need your name. I don't want to tell
your name.

Speaker 2 (00:39):
I've explained this before. But let's have a little lesson
about how the emergency services system works. I know I'm
ignoring the most important part of the audio clip, but
I promise we'll get there now. This is going to
be accurate for the United States, but I imagine it's similar
in many other countries from what I've seen in the
UK and Australia like this, And I did some research

(01:01):
into the emergency services in the Netherlands where I live,
and I believe it's similar, So you dial nine one
one or one one two or triple zero or triple nine.
Every country's different and the operator answers. Depending on where
you live, you might get someone who first asks what
kind of emergency it is, fire, medical, criminal, all of

(01:23):
the above, so they can get you to the correct service.
Once you have an operator for your emergency, they're taking
information from you while relaying that information to a dispatcher.
The operator's job is to pay attention to you and
gather information. They don't need to stop and dispatch anybody
that's happening while they're talking to you. So in the US,

(01:47):
if you call nine one one until the operator that
someone broke into your home and you're hiding in the closet,
the operator will type that into their computer and the
dispatcher will see it and send a police officer right away.
The operator will continue to talk to you and gather
as much information as possible, because the more information the
officer has, the better they can know how to protect you.

(02:09):
If you say my house is on fire, the dispatcher
will see that and immediately send fire trucks. The operator
will continue gathering information and it might seem like they
aren't sending anybody, but that is happening in the background.
And there are smaller areas that don't have a separate dispatcher,
but the operator can send a message to the police,

(02:30):
ambulance or fire department from their computer without pausing their questions.
I've seen them work, and they're highly efficient and multitasking.
And I'm only talking about normally functioning emergency services operators.
There are operators who suck at their jobs, of course,
and those are the ones we usually hear about. But
for the most part, they know what they're doing, so

(02:51):
you don't need to continually ask them if they're sending
someone out, especially if you say something like my house
is on fire, my dad's having a heart attack, or
I just killed my children. Those were the first words
out of Deborah Jeter's mouth when she called Hillsborough nine
one one on June fifth, two thousand and nine. Hillsboro

(03:12):
is located in Texas, about seventy miles or one hundred
and twelve kilometers south of Dallas and about forty miles
or sixty five kilometers north of Waco. Not only did
she calmly state that she had killed her children, she
also called the operator a bit, as she demanded they
send out an ambulance since one of her daughters was
still alive. That's when the operator informed her that police

(03:34):
and ambulances had already been dispatched. Because that's the way
it works.

Speaker 1 (03:40):
I'm in the house, book ramp and Puss still up
real she's asking to be shaved and I couldn't handle that.
And count she's in an abandoned house. She had been
a long time. She might already got she's flat out
block and on what baby she could her? Okay, we've

(04:13):
got people in realm.

Speaker 2 (04:15):
She told the dispatcher that one of the girls was dead,
like dead dead, but the other was still alive. Then
you could hear Deborah talking to the daughter who was
still alive in the background. So now that poor girl
who watched her mother slit her sister's throat and then
slit her throat is waiting in horror as the person
who had just tried to kill her was responsible for

(04:37):
getting someone there to save her life. It's an unimaginable
level of terror for a thirteen year old. Fortunately, an
ambulance would arrive and she would live through the ordeal,
But then she would have to live with that horror
for the rest of her life. This is Monsters. Before

(05:19):
we begin, I just want to make sure you know
that my other show, Sinister is back up and there
are three episodes a week. They're dark stories from history,
and if you like this show, you'll probably like that one.
Give it a shot. There are links in the description.
Thanks Lester. Lee Jeter, who went by Lee and Deborah
Jeter's marriage was on the rocks. The couple had gotten

(05:42):
together young, and Deborah was only nineteen when she got
pregnant with their first child. They ended up having two
daughters together, thirteen year old Kirsten and twelve year old Kelsey.
In previous years, Debra was charged with abusing Kirston, but
the charges were dropped when Deborah agreed to receive mental
health treatment. Even though Deborah had gotten treatment, the house

(06:04):
was still chaotic. Neighbors reported calling the police on the
residence multiple times. It did seem like Deborah was making
an effort to better her life. She had been working
as a tutor in anatomy and physiology at Hill College
and had been accepted into a program there to become
a licensed vocational nurse. She decided not to enter the program,

(06:26):
saying she wanted to become a registered nurse, which is
a level above LVN and would require a different program.
In May of two thousand and nine, Lee filed for
a separation from Deborah, and she didn't take it well.
She attempted to take her own life on May twenty second.
Neighbors said the street was filled with police and ambulances.

(06:48):
It turned out that Deborah had tried to overdose on
pills while it was just her and her daughters in
the house. She was taken to the hospital and then
admitted to the DePaul Center for inpatient psychiatric care. While
Debraah was in the DePaul Center, Lee filed for divorce
and petitioned for a temporary restraining order against his wife.

(07:09):
He wrote in the application that Deborah had attempted suicide
and was currently being treated, but he was concerned because
quote she may be released within a few days, and
I'm concerned about her possible actions regarding the children. His
goal was to retain soul custody to protect the safety
and well being of the children and any other person

(07:29):
who has been a victim of family violence committed by Deborah.
Deborah remained in the hospital for the next two weeks
before being released. On June fourth, the custody hearing was
held and the judge lifted the restraining order against her,
allowing her to see her children. Lee hadn't opposed the
order since Deborah hadn't shown any signs of a resentment

(07:50):
against her daughters. Now, I understand not wanting to keep
your kids away from their mother, but she had only
been in the mental health facility for two weeks. Saying
she hadn't shown any signs of anything seemed a little premature.
That was on top of her also having been charged
with abuse previously. The next day, Deborah told Lee that

(08:13):
he wanted to go out with Kirston and Kelsey and
that she had a surprise for them. The girls were
thrilled to see their mother, as it had been two
weeks since they had last seen her. It doesn't sound
like a long time, but when a kid normally sees
their parent every day and then they're gone for two weeks,
that probably seems like an eternity. Kelsey had posted about

(08:33):
her excitement to her MySpace page, writing quote, I get
to see my mom tomorrow. Yay. Lee dropped the girls
off with Deborah at six pm. And she explained that
their surprise was somewhere else, So they all got into
her car and drove to an abandoned house off of
a highway just northeast of downtown Hillsborough. Now they didn't

(08:54):
go straight there. It seems as though they were out
for a few hours before, but it's not clear what
they did. Once at the house, Deborah broke in and
told the girls to go inside and into the bathroom.
That was where she pulled out a knife and started
stabbing Kirsten surprise. While being stabbed, Kirsten yelled at Kelsey

(09:15):
to run, which she did. Deborah ran after Kelsey and
started stabbing her, but Kirsten got between them to protect
her younger sister. Eventually, Kirsten collapsed from her wounds, and
Deborah went back to stabbing Kelsey. Then she slit the
twelve year old's throat. When that was done, she turned
back to Kirston and slit her throat too. Neither of

(09:38):
the girls died immediately, and Kirsten convinced her mother that
she should call nine one one. She told her mother
that she didn't want to die and begged her to
get help, and amazingly, she did just after nine pm,
Deborah called nine one one one of them? Is it?

Speaker 1 (09:54):
She said that that the other one was on and
I don't see you lot. Tell me get the fuck
out here, honey, they're coming, They're coming. Do you have
any weapons? I do have an eye, she has a nut. No, man,

(10:16):
Just just hurry, okay, tell her where on their way?

Speaker 2 (10:30):
Can you not tell me what.

Speaker 1 (10:31):
Your name is? What your name, darling?

Speaker 2 (10:37):
Deborah is very calm as she tells the operator that
she killed her children, that one of them is still alive,
and that one of them is dead dead. She refused
to give her name, though, which is weird because she
didn't try to get away. People have been surprised to
hear that Deborah attacked her children and then agreed to
call and get help, but they shouldn't be because she

(10:57):
clearly wasn't acting in a rational man The question of
her mental health comes up, obviously, but even outside of that,
you can't expect a parent to stab and slash their
children and then act in a predictable manner. When deputies arrived,
they found Deborah outside of the house, laying on the
ground with her car in the garage. The knife she

(11:18):
had used to attack her children was sitting on the car.
Inside the house, they found Kelsey dead in the bathroom
and Kirsten still clinging to life. She was airlifted to
a trauma center in Dallas and underwent surgery to repair
extensive damage to her neck. She also had multiple stab
wounds on her body. Ten days later, Kirsten was released

(11:39):
from the hospital and was able to attend Kelsey's memorial.
Deborah was arrested at the scene without incident, and the
evidence against her was pretty solid. She had confessed on
the nine to one one call, she was covered in
her daughter's blood, the murder weapon had been in her possession,
and Kirsten was a living witness still. During her arraignment,

(12:01):
she pleaded not guilty, but she was charged with one
count of capital murder and one count of attempted capital murder,
which meant the prosecutor would be seeking the death penalty.
Deborah was offered a deal to plead guilty and receive
life in prison without parole, and she took it. Obviously,
questions remain about why she truly wanted to kill her daughters.

(12:22):
Of course, there is the possibility that she was just
that mentally ill, but if that was the case. Deborah
never tried to use that as a defense. It seemed
that her ex husband Lee believed that it was mental illness,
at least at first. After she was sentenced to Lee
told reporters that he believed that Deborah was so mentally
ill that she believed that death was the only way

(12:45):
out of the heartbreak that their divorce would cause. She
had told him that she was hurting so bad and
believed that the girls were hurting that bad, and she
thought she was saving them from that pain. Phil Aside
is the act of a parent killing a child, and
there are five categories that the act fits into. This
explanation would be altruistic philicide, which is where a parent

(13:07):
kills their child in order to save them from something.
But then Lee said in a different interview that Deborah
had wanted to kill their daughters to hurt him. He
explained that her mental health was never actually that bad,
and she just wanted to make him suffer for filing
for divorce. That's an example of spousal revenge philicide, which

(13:27):
seems pretty self explanatory. The reasonly suddenly believed that new
reason was because she had told him that at one
point while she was in jail. She had told him
she was going to murder the girls, then come and
murder him while he was sleeping, and she followed it
up by telling him that she hated him. Even though
the words have come directly from Deborah's mouth, I don't

(13:49):
think we'll ever know exactly what's true. Was it mental illness,
was it hatred, or was it a little of both.
It's a question that will likely remain unanswered. But at
the least least we can rest assured that another monster
is locked up for good. If you're the victim of
domestic abuse, please reach out to someone for help. Please

(14:09):
talk to your local shelter, call the National Domestic Abuse
Hotline at one eight hundred seven nine nine safe that's
one eight hundred seven nine nine seven two three three,
or you can go to the hotline dot org to
chat with someone online. If you're having feelings of harming
yourself or someone else, or even just need someone to
talk to, please contact your local mental health facility call

(14:31):
nine one one, or call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline
by simply dialing nine eight eight In the United States,
They're available twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.
And we'll talk to you about any mental health issue
you might be facing. If you're a member of the
LGBTQ plus community and suffering from discrimination, depression, or are
in need of any support, please contact the LGBT National

(14:53):
Hotline at one eight eight eight eight four three four
five six four, or go to LGBT Hotline Org. Thanks
so much for letting me tell you this story. If
you're a fan of true crime, you can subscribe to
this show so you don't miss an episode. My other show,
Somewhere Sinister is no longer getting new episodes, but you
can check it out if you like interesting stories from

(15:14):
history that aren't necessarily true crime, but true crime adjacent.
It's available anywhere that you listen to podcasts. You can
also check out my personal vlog, Giles with a Jay,
which is sporadically updated with stuff about my personal life,
travel and music. It's available on YouTube. If you'd like
to support the show, check out our merchandise at thisismonsters

(15:35):
dot com. A link is in the description. Thanks again,
and be safe.
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