Ind. Mom Who Murdered Her Kids and Gave 'Matter-of-Fact' Confession to 911 Gets 120 Years
An Indiana mother who admitted to fatally stabbing her two children because she feared her husband would take them away after he filed for divorce has been sentenced to 120 years in prison, PEOPLE confirms.
In January, Brandi Worley, 31, of Darlington, pleaded guilty to two counts of murder for killing her son, Tyler Worley, 7, and her daughter, Charlee Worley, 3, in 2016 before stabbing herself in the neck.
In court, her attorney said he could not explain what she did, local station WDGJ7 reports.
Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Harry Siamas said at Monday’s sentencing, “Sometimes there is no explanation,” the Journal & Courier reports. “Darkness is in this world,” he continued. “And it penetrates minds and our hearts.”
• Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click hereto get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.
As Worley looked on, Siamas handed down a 120-year sentence to be served in its entirety for convictions on two counts of murder — 65 years for one count and 55 for the other, a Montgomery County Circuit Court clerk tells PEOPLE.
Worley had initially pleaded not guilty and had planned to plead insanity, the Indianapolis Star reported. She had previously planned to plead insanity in the deaths of the children, according to the newspaper. She accepted a plea deal to avoid a trial, according to the outlet.
‘There’s Blood Everywhere’
The horrific ordeal began in the early morning hours of Nov. 17, 2016 when Worley called 911 at about 4:35 a.m. and told the dispatcher, “I just stabbed myself and killed my two children,” WTTV reported.
“There’s blood everywhere,” she said during the call.
When the dispatcher asked her what caused her to do this, she replied, “My husband wanted a divorce and wanted to take my kids.”
Jason Worley, her husband and the father of her children, was asleep in the basement, unaware of what happened, Sheriff Mark A. Casteel of the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office said at the time.
Jason Worley filed for divorce on Nov. 16, 2016, the day before the murders, the Montgomery County clerk’s office confirmed to PEOPLE.
• For more compelling true crime coverage, follow our Crime magazineon Flipboard.
Worley was taken to the hospital with self-inflicted injuries to her neck, Casteel said.
She seemed “matter-of-fact” and not remorseful, the sheriff said.
Worley was diagnosed with depression and has been unemotional since November 2016, her attorney, Mark Inman said in court, the Journal & Courier reports.
Two Young Lives Cut Short
As Worley sits behind bars, Jason Worley is left to grapple with the loss of his two young children.
“Both children had very bright futures,” he told the Journal & Courier.
Tyler was very personable, he said. “He could walk into a room with 20 strangers and come out with 20 friends,” Jason said.
Charlee, who loved getting dressed up and wearing braids in her hair, “was becoming her own person,” he said.
He hasn’t spoken to Brandi since the night before the murders, according to the Journal & Courier.
Their divorce was finalized in March 2017, the outlet reports.
“My children were my life,” Jason Worley told the newspaper. “They were my everything.”
Calls to Worley’s attorney for comment were not immediately returned.
