A Texas mother is being held on a $2.5 million bond on two capital murder counts after deputies found her sons shot and she allegedly confessed.
Ellis County deputies answered an “unknown emergency” call just before 4:15 a.m. Thursday on Big Sky Drive in Waxahachie, Texas, and found two male victims with gunshot wounds inside the home.
Fox News Digital reported that 42-year-old Colleen Nichole Lemmon was taken into custody and charged with two counts of capital murder, offenses that can carry the death penalty under Texas law, after investigators said evidence gave them probable cause to believe she shot both of her children.
Authorities said Lemmon allegedly told officers, “I shot both my kids.”
Christopher Scott Pitre, 21, was pronounced dead at the scene. His younger brother, a 15-year-old boy, was rushed to a hospital in critical condition and later died.
An arrest affidavit obtained by FOX 4 described deputies finding Lemmon covered in blood, with what appeared to be self-inflicted lacerations on her wrists and a handgun nearby. She had non-life-threatening injuries, was arrested, and was taken to a local hospital for treatment before being held on the $2.5 million bond.
No motive appears in the public account released so far. The affidavit details and the alleged admission are what officials cited for probable cause.
Scott Pitre, the boys’ father, told NBC 5 that his younger son had recently celebrated his 15th birthday. He said he wants justice for his sons.
Neighbor Ida Brown spoke to FOX 4 about the killings on the street.
Brown said:
"It's heartbreaking, and I'm praying for them."
Sheriff Brad Norman issued a brief statement of condolence to the family.
Norman said:
"My deepest sympathies go out to the victims' father, family members, and loved ones involved in this tragic incident. They will remain in our prayers during this difficult time."
Two dead sons. An alleged on-scene confession. A handgun. Wrist wounds described as self-inflicted. Those are the facts law enforcement has put forward while Lemmon sits under a multimillion-dollar bond on capital murder counts.
High-profile cases of mothers charged in their children’s deaths draw intense public scrutiny over evidence, intent, and jury findings, including coverage of a holdout juror who said evidence showed planning in a separate Massachusetts trial.
Waxahachie’s case is still in the charging and investigation stage. Ellis County’s account does not spell out a full forensic timeline or a stated reason for the shootings beyond the probable-cause claim and the alleged admission.
Other maternal murder prosecutions have turned on disputed mental-state claims and jury deadlock fights, such as when a lawyer for a holdout juror rejected claims that the juror refused to follow the law.
Here, officials have not released a medical examiner’s final manner-of-death rulings in the material made public, and the younger son’s full name has not been released. What is public is straightforward: two gunshot victims, one mother charged, and a bond set at $2.5 million.
Fundraising battles and defense demands for background probes have marked other recent cases, including a fundraiser for a holdout juror that topped $300,000 amid defense pressure.
None of that substitutes for the Waxahachie record. Lemmon is the charged defendant. The victims are her sons, ages 21 and 15. The father is asking for justice. The sheriff’s office is treating the shootings as a capital case.
Deliberation fights in other courtrooms have even included claims that a juror reenacted a child’s strangulation during talks, a reminder of how raw these trials become when children are the victims.
For this Texas family, the legal path starts with capital murder charges and a bond most defendants will never post. The boys are gone. The alleged confession is on the record. The system’s job now is proof, process, and a verdict equal to the loss.
When children are shot dead in their own home, soft excuses are not justice, accountability is.
