The Holy Book prays for a cordial and long-lasting relationship between parents, saying: “May you live to see your children’s children.” There is the unspoken expression that parents are not supposed to or will not bury their children. This indirect prayer seemed, however, to have fallen on deaf ears for Debra Jeter.
She made headlines in June 2009, following her horrific act on her two unsuspecting and unarmed daughters one fateful day. It is always thought-provoking when there is news about a mother who harms or kills her child or children.
So, the story of Debra Jeter is something that people are interested in knowing.
Who is Debra Jeter?
Born on November 20, 1962, to the family of Billy Jeter and Palona Jeter in Georgia, Debra Janelle Jeter is an American citizen, who is a mother of two children. She, however, became infamous for the gruesome murder she committed: harming her children and eventually murdering one of them.
The mother of two worked at West Georgia Technical College as a programme specialist in academic affairs. Her marriage with her husband, Lester Lee, ended unhappily. In May 2009, Lee filed for a divorce. Neighbours of the Jeters reported frequent noise and even called the police to intervene. Jeter, seemingly distraught from the failed relationship, attempted suicide in front of her two children on May 31, 2009.
Concerned for the safety of his children, Lee obtained a restraining order against his wife. However, the court granted Jeter unsupervised visitation less than three weeks after the restraining order was lifted. This incident put her two innocent girls in danger.
Jeter gained notoriety following her tragic attempt to take the lives of her two children, Kiersten and Kelsey Jeter, on June 5, 2009. This horrific incident resulted in the death of 12-year-old Kelsey and left 13-year-old Kiersten struggling for survival.
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Debra Jeter story
In May 2009, Lee Jeter requested separation from his wife and the mother of his two daughters, Jeter. The precise cause for the separation has never been disclosed, but Steve Raulston, a 56-year-old lumberyard worker from the Jeter family’s neighbourhood, admitted to calling the police several times on the occupants of a one-story, untidy house at the corner.
He said: “It was a noisy house and other neighbours also had called (the) police.”
Lee’s filing for divorce on May 22 shook Jeter hard and resulted in her attempting suicide the day before at their house. Court records revealed that there was a concern for the safety of their two girls under Jeter’s care and Lee was granted a temporary restraining order. Jeter was subsequently taken for psychiatric treatment at the DePaul Center.
Lee expressed his concerns about the welfare of his kids following the release of their mother.“She may be released within a few days, and I am concerned about her possible actions regarding the children,” he told the court. The documents revealed that he requested custody “to protect the safety and well-being of the children and any other person who has been a victim of family violence committed by (Jeter).”
At a hearing just a day before Jeter visited her two daughters, Lee’s request to hold the restraining order against Jeter was lifted, with Lee agreeing with the judge’s decision since she had never been resentful to her children or put them in any danger.
Upon hearing of the news of their mother’s visit, the girls were ecstatic to see their mother. Kelsey expressed her happiness on her Myspace page, as she wrote, “I get to see my mom tomorrow! Yay!”
On June 5, 2009, Jeter claimed to have an unexpected treat for her two daughters when she collected them from their father. According to reports, the two girls were excited to be with their mother. Unbeknownst to them, their mother had sinister intentions when she drove them to a deserted farmhouse.
When inside, Jeter brandished a knife and lunged at Kiersten. In an act of courage, Kiersten screamed for her sister to escape while she was being attacked. Yet, when Jeter moved closer to Kelsey, Kiersten was stabbed in the back while defending her sibling. The mother was no match for the two children, and she viciously slit Kelsey’s throat. Kiersten pleaded with her mother to get help, but Jeter, despite being a licensed nurse, proceeded to take her own daughter’s life.
Jeter subsequently dialled 911 to report that she had committed a murder and that one of her children was dead while the other needed urgent help. She could be heard on the line reassuring her wounded Kiersten and pleading with the operator not to let the police shoot her as she was unarmed. When officers arrived, Jeter was seen with her hands raised and the murder weapon on top of a nearby car.
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While speaking on the phone to the dispatcher, the conversation went thus:
Dispatcher: Hill county 911, what’s your emergency?
Debra Jeter: I just killed my children.
Dispatcher: Excuse me?
Debra Jeter: I just killed my children.
Dispatcher: Where are you?
Debra Jeter: Um, I’m in the abandoned house on highway 77 right after you go underneath the highway. One of them is still alive, hurry.
Dispatcher: M, How, under what highway? You’re on highway 77, where?
Debra Jeter: I am on highway 77 right after you go under 35 going towards Milford. Get an ambulance out here to save the one that didn’t die, common, hurry up.
Dispatcher: What’s your name?
Debra Jeter: Bitch, call them! Have you already called them?
Dispatcher: Yes, ma’am, I have.
Debra Jeter: Okay.
Dispatcher: I need your name.
Debra Jeter: I don’t want to tell you my name.
Dispatcher: Hello?
Debra Jeter: Hello.
Dispatcher: Are you still there?
Debra Jeter: Yes, I’m still here.
Dispatcher: 77 towards Milford right after you cross under the bridge. She’s telling me she’s killed her children.
[deep breathing]
Dispatcher: Are you in your car?
Debra Jeter: No, I’m not in my car. I’m in the house walking around and um, one of them is still alive for real. She’s asking to be saved and I couldn’t handle that and so now… [cross talk]
Dispatcher: She thinks she’s in an abandoned house [inaudible]
Debra Jeter: It’s been a long time, she might already die because she’s bled out a lot and… hold on. What baby? [inaudible] What did you say? I’m on the phone with 911. [inaudible daughter] She said please [inaudible] hurry.
Dispatcher: Okay. Well I’ve, we’ve got people en route. Get an ambulance because one of them is still alive, she said. Can you tell me what happened? Ma’am. Hello? Ma’am.
Debra Jeter: What?
Dispatcher: Can you tell me what happened?
Debra Jeter: I can’t get the door open.
Dispatcher: You can’t get what door open, darling?
Debra Jeter: The front door so ya’ll can get in when ya’ll get here. Why won’t it open?
Dispatcher: I don’t know.
Debra Jeter: Hold on. [inaudible]
Dispatcher: Are you on the right-hand side of the road or the left-hand side of the road, sweety?
Debra Jeter: I’m at [inaudible] side of the road. They know where it’s at!
Dispatcher: They’re coming, they’re coming. I just want to try to clarify, clarify exactly where they are.
Officer over the radio: [inaudible] both in the car.
Dispatcher: Can you tell me what happened?
Debra Jeter: I don’t want to tell you. I tell you what, they’re not coming.
Dispatcher: Well, they’re on their way. My partner is getting, getting them to you just as quickly as she can.
[officers over radio]
How many…
[sirens and officers over radio]
Dispatcher: how many children did you have?
Debra Jeter: Two.
Dispatcher: Huh?
Debra Jeter: Two.
Dispatcher: Two?
Debra Jeter: One of them’s dead. One of them is dead. She’s dead dead. But the other one wants to be saved and I’m, she needs to be saved. And I tell you what, they need to get the fuck out here.
Dispatcher: Honey, they’re coming.
Debra Jeter: [cross talk] …get here.
Officers over the radio: [inaudible] abandoned house 1-17 we need more information, is she armed?
Dispatcher: Do you have any weapons?
Debra Jeter: Um, I do, I have a knife.
Dispatcher: She has a knife.
[officers over radio]
Debra Jeter: Should I throw it away?
Dispatcher: No, no ma’am. Just, just put it… She’s got a knife.
Officers over the radio: She got a gun?
Debra Jeter: Please hurry.
Dispatcher: Tell her we’re on our way.
Officers over the radio: Do you know her name or anything?
Dispatchers: She won’t give me. Can you not tell me what your name is?
Debra Jeter: [inaudible]
Dispatcher: Huh?
Debra Jeter: [inaudible]
Dispatcher: What’s your name, darling?
Debra Jeter: I’m not telling you my name [inaudible].
Dispatcher: How old are your children?
Debra Jeter: Hold on, it’s a what? On the phone. God damn it hurry up!
Dispatcher: Honey, they are coming. They are on their way. You should be hearing lights and sirens. Seeing lights and hearing sirens.
Officers over the radio: [inaudible] is going on [inaudible]
You said just, you cross under the bridge that goes to, on 77 towards Milford, you crossed under the bridge to 35 and you’re in an abandoned house. Is that right?
Debra Jeter: Yep. Under 35.
Dispatcher: Cross under
Debra Jeter: 35 on 77, abandoned house up on the hill on the left. Hurry the fuck up.
Officers over the radio: 1-6 being routed from…
Dispatcher: She says she’s in the abandoned house…
Officers over the radio: [inaudible] 77 and the interstate
Dispatcher: yes, the house on the hill.
Debra Jeter: [inaudible] Hold on, baby.
Dispatcher: Honey, do you hear them now? Hear those sirens and stuff?
[officers over radio]
[Debra and daughter talking inaudibly]
Dispatcher: Shes…
Officer over the radio: 10-4
[Debra and daughter talking inaudibly]
Officer over the radio: [inaudible] do you know where that house is?
Officer over the radio: Nah, I not sure where that house is at]
Officer over the radio: [inaudible] you cross under the bridge I know there’s going to be an old grey house that’s off on the left-hand side. It’s going to be hard to see. It’s almost covered by trees and stuff like that.
Dispatcher: Are you still there?
Debra Jeter: I’m here.
[Officer over radio]
Dispatcher: Are you still with me?
Debra Jeter: I’m still with you.
Officer over the radio: I’m headed your way from [inaudible]
Debra Jeter: How do they not see it?
Dispatcher: [inaudible]
Debra Jeter: But they’re not here. I’m here, they’re not here.
Dispatcher: They’re on their way, sweetheart. They had to come from different parts of the county.
Debra Jeter: Hold on kid, they’re coming. Tell them not to shoot me. I don’t have a gun.
Dispatcher: Okay. She doesn’t want to get shot ‘cause she doesn’t have a gun.
Another dispatcher: We told them she has a knife so when they get there tell her…
Dispatcher: Okay, when they get there…
Debra Jeter: Uh-huh.
Dispatcher: …I want you to lay the knife down. [radio] Uh, when you get the door open, I want you to lay the knife down so they can see you don’t have any weapons.
Debra Jeter: Okay.
[sirens and officers over radio]
Debra Jeter: Tell them to hurry.
Dispatcher: They’re hurrying, honey, they’re hurrying.
Officer over the radio: 1-17, I’m going to be on the interstate uh, southbound taking the exit uh, which way do I go when I get to uh
Dispatcher: Okay.
Officer over the radio: I believe to the right if you’re going northbound trying to find the house []
Debra Jeter: Oh my god, she’s dead. Oh my god.
Dispatcher: How old are the children?
Debra Jeter: I’m not telling you. [inaudible] She wants you to hurry. She wants you to hurry.
Dispatcher: Honey, they are coming. They are coming as fast as they can. They’re trying to be sure…
Officers over the radio: [inaudible] to your right.
Dispatcher: Do you see them?
Debra Jeter: They’re coming.
Dispatcher: Do you see them?
Debra Jeter: Still.
Possibly Kiersten Jeter: Okay.
Officer over the radio: [inaudible] abandoned house.
Dispatcher: Do you see them?
Debra Jeter: No. Some [inaudible] Hold on.
Officer over the radio: Yeah, the one back off in the trees
Debra Jeter: [inaudible] I see something.
Dispatcher: Do you see the lights?
Debra Jeter: No, I see something at the end of the road. I see car lights but not fire lights. Not police lights.
Dispatcher: She says she…
Debra Jeter: [cross talk] car at the end of the driveway.
Dispatcher: She says they, they’re at, see can see…
Debra Jeter: I hear sirens…
Dispatcher: Okay. Do you see them?
Debra Jeter: No, I don’t see them.
Officer over the radio: [inaudible] Tell her she needs to come out with her hands up
Dispatcher: Okay. You need to…
Debra Jeter: Coming [cross talk] the driveway
Dispatcher: I know, I understand. I want….
Debra Jeter: [cross talk] out the driveway with my hands up.
Dispatcher: She states…
Debra Jeter: Out the house with both hands up, except for one ‘cause, ‘cause I’m on the phone. They’re coming.
Dispatcher: She says she has her hands up except for the fact that the one that she’s on the phone with. She’s out in the yard. She said she is out in the yard beside the house.
Debra Jeter: Okay, goodbye. I see them, they’re out here. Goodbye.
Dispatcher: Alright, bye.
The voice of the now-late Jeffrey T. Lyon, the Sheriff of Hillsboro, was filled with emotion as he described the “horrific” scene inside the abandoned ranch house on 215 U.S. Highway 77 in Hill County. Jester was taken into custody and placed on suicide watch at Hill County Law Enforcement Center. She was charged with murder and attempted capital murder, leading the court to impose a bond of $1.5 million.
In May 2010, she pled guilty in a plea deal, which granted her life in prison without the possibility of parole and prevented her daughter Kiersten from testifying about her mother’s actions. Jeter allegedly confessed that her actions were a way of getting back at her ex-husband Lee Jeter for their divorce and children custody battle. She felt that the only way to handle the situation was by sharing the pain of both parties. Lee later confirmed that this was his ex-wife’s reasoning.
Debra Jeter movie
There are several reports online that talk of a Jeter movie. Many sources have stated that watching the Netflix 2022 original film, Case and Survived Daughter, Kiersten Jeter reveals the full story of how her mother killed her daughter.
Debra Jeter documentary
Several media platforms and filmmakers have done a documentary, all providing details of how Jeter attacked her two daughters, killing one in the process.
Debra Jeter now
Jeter was charged with murder and attempted murder. After posting a $1.5 million bond, she pleaded guilty in May 2010 and accepted a plea bargain of life in prison without the possibility of parole, thus avoiding the death penalty.
She is currently incarcerated in a Gatesville facility run by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, serving a life sentence. Before being moved, Jeter met with her husband and Kelsey, the child who had survived the attack, and apologised for her actions.
Many have stated that Debra Jeter should have never given birth because she is not fit to be called a mother. The suffering and death that met her two daughters Kiersten and Kelsey Jeter respectively is something that no child deserves.
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