Grandmother Fatally Shot 8-Year-Old Twin Boys With Severe Autism Before She Attempted Suicide
An Arizona grandmother who fatally shot her twin grandsons, who both had autism, has been sentenced to prison. The boys had been left in her care after their mother died by suicide.
On Monday, Dorothy Flood was sentenced to 21 years in prison for killing her twin grandsons: 10 and a half years for each boy, KVOA, the Tucson Star and KOLD-TV report.
Flood fatally shot 8-year-old Jaden and Jordan Webb in April 2019. They both had severe autism and were said to be nonverbal and used diapers, according to prosecutors. Jorden also suffered from digestive problems while Jaden suffered from asthma.
The boys were in Flood’s care after their mother’s death three years earlier. To help care for them better, Flood quit her job, but it became too much for the 56-year-old.
“Somewhere, something snapped,” Chandra McCord, Flood’s former co-worker at the University Medical Center in Tucson, told KOLD-TV. “My first reaction was of course no, it could not be the same Dorothy we knew.”
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“She in her letter said when she took the gun out of the drawer, she said, ‘I am sorry buddy, we are not getting better. They cannot help us, so we are going to leave, the three of us,'” prosecutors said.
Flood’s defense attorney claimed she was mentally unstable and wanted to help the boys end their pain and suffering.
Flood shot Jordan once in the stomach and Jaden in the chest before shooting them both in the head. She then attempted to kill herself but the gun jammed so instead she took some pills.
She and the boys were found in her Tucson home on April 4. Flood was revived, while the boys were pronounced dead.
Flood was originally charged with first degree murder but took a plea deal with prosecutors and pled guilty to manslaughter.
During her sentencing hearing, Flood told the Pima County judge, “I loved those boys. I never intended to harm them. I am so sorry that I did.”
