Mom, 37, accused of drowning her 10-month-old twins could face death penalty

Divorced mom-of-five, 37, accused of drowning her 10-month-old twin sons in a California motel bathtub could face the death penalty

  • Police have arrested Heather Langdon in central California after her twin 10-month-old sons, Mason and Maddox, were found drowned in a motel Thursday  
  • Langdon could face capital punishment, if convicted of first-degree murder, assault on a child causing death, and a special circumstance
  • Langdon also has three older sons with her ex-husband, aged 5, 13 and 14  
  • The 37-year-old mother had been staying at a motel in Tulare County, California 

California prosecutors have announced that a mother-of-five charged with drowning her 10-month-old twin sons inside a motel room last week could face the death penalty.  

Heather Langdon, 37, was arrested Thursday, a day after police officers helped arrange for her and her babies to stay at the Virginia Motor Lodge Motel after she was told she could no longer remain at a women’s shelter in Tulare because she was causing a disturbance.

Langdon is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of assault on a child causing death, and the special circumstance that multiple murders were committed. 

Mason and Maddox Murguia

Heather Langdon, 37 (left), could face the death penalty, if convicted of drowning her 10-month-old twins, Mason and Maddox Murguia (right), in a motel bathtub  

The woman’s sister has identified the victims as Mason and Maddox Murguia.   

According to a press release from the office of Tulare County Distrcit Attorney Tim Ward, if convicted on all counts, Langdon could face capital punishment, or a life sentence without the possibility of parole. 

Tulare police Sgt. Jon Hamlin said officers had no previous contact with Langdon and would have called for mental health assistance if they believed she was a danger to herself or the children.

He said the officers didn’t want to leave without finding shelter for them on the cold, rainy night, so they found a nonprofit agency willing to pay for the motel room.

First responders arrived at the Virginia Motor Lodge Motel in Tulare, California, where the family had been staying Thursday, and immediately began efforts to revive the babies

First responders arrived at the Virginia Motor Lodge Motel in Tulare, California, where the family had been staying Thursday, and immediately began efforts to revive the babies

At 7.45am the next day, police got a 911 call reporting that two infants had drowned at the motel in Tulare. 

First responders arrived at the Virginia Motor Lodge Motel and immediately began efforts to revive Mason and Maddox. They were then rushed to the hospital but soon pronounced dead.

After questioning Langdon and obtaining a search warrant for the motel room, police placed her under arrest. 

Investigators have not yet identified the victims’ father.

Teresa Langdon, Heather’s older sister, told Visalia Times-Delta that the 37-year-old stay-at-home mom also has three older sons, ages five, 13 and 14, with her ex-husband. 

Langdon  and her two youngest sons had been staying at a woman's shelter, but the family was forced to leave

Mason and Maddox as babies

Langdon (left) and her two youngest sons (pictured as infants) had been staying at a woman’s shelter, but the family was forced to leave. Langdon has three older sons with her ex

Teresa said she last saw Heather last Sunday and noted that there was nothing in her sibling’s demeanor that day to suggest that she was planning to do harm to her two youngest children.

‘We are going to miss seeing these two brothers grow and express their uniqueness, which was already shining through,’ Langdon’s cousin Shannon Livick wrote in a statement released to the newspaper. 

‘Mason had the most beautiful blue eyes and he was always curious. Maddox had the darkest brown eyes which were full of a calm wisdom.’

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk