27-year-old mother said she wanted the stress of having children to stop so she suffocated her 2-year-old daughter to death years after killing her 2-month-old son; charged
Michigan – In a chilling case in Michigan that has caught nationwide attention, a 27-year-old mother, identified as I. Whitehead, has been charged with the murder of her 2-year-old daughter, an act she admitted committing because she wanted the stress of having children to stop.” Authorities say Whitehead suffocated her 2-year-old daughter in September and has since confessed not only to that killing but also to the death of her 2-month-old son two years earlier, a death that had initially been ruled natural.
Whitehead is now facing one count of first-degree murder and one count of first-degree child abuse in the death of her daughter, who was found unresponsive inside the family’s home on September 3. When first responders arrived at the scene following a 911 call, they found the toddler not breathing. She was pronounced dead shortly after. Whitehead was the only adult present at the time of the incident. Although the girl’s cause of death wasn’t immediately clear, the case took a shocking turn when Whitehead sat down with police and gave a detailed confession.
According to court documents, Whitehead admitted to suffocating her daughter multiple times using a plastic bag. During her interview with investigators, she allegedly said her intention was for the two-year-old girl to die. When pressed further, Whitehead revealed her motive: the stress of having children was too much, adding “she couldn’t take it anymore” and “just wanted it to stop.” She explained that the emotional and physical burden of parenting had become overwhelming. Perhaps most horrifying of all, when asked when she decided to kill her daughter, Whitehead allegedly responded, “Right after she was born.” During that same police interview, Whitehead also confessed to killing her two-month-old son in 2021. The boy’s death had previously been ruled a result of parainfluenza viral-type pneumonia, a diagnosis Whitehead publicly spoke about when her daughter appeared to be suffering from a similar illness as a newborn.
At the time, Whitehead told news outlets that she was devastated by her son’s sudden passing and urged other parents to trust their instincts when dealing with sick children. But now, detectives believe the diagnosis may have masked a deeper horror. In a signed statement dated November 25, Whitehead reportedly wrote, “I killed them,” referring to both her 2-year-old daughter and 2-month-old son. Although no formal charges have been filed yet in the 2-month-old boy’s death, prosecutors have indicated that they are actively reviewing the case and further charges are possible.
Investigators also recovered troubling digital evidence that supported Whitehead’s confession. Days after her daughter’s death, she searched online for, “How hard is it to prove if cause of death is suffocation by bag in toddler.” Additionally, one video taken less than a month before the toddler’s death showed another of Whitehead’s children saying, “you never even wanted me, you only want me to die… just kill me already.”
In the months before her arrest, Whitehead appeared to be a concerned and involved parent. Just last year, she was interviewed by a local TV station, talking about her daughter’s supposed struggle with a rare strain of parainfluenza. She even gave heartfelt advice to other mothers: “Definitely trust your gut instinct, especially when it comes to your children.” But behind that public image was a mother who had allegedly planned her daughter’s murder from the beginning. When asked by detectives if she had exaggerated or faked her daughter’s symptoms to create the appearance of illness, possibly as a cover for future harm, Whitehead admitted, “I wanted to kill her.”
Whitehead is currently being held in county jail on a $5 million bond. Her next court appearance is scheduled for December 10. If convicted, she faces a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole. The medical examiner has not yet officially ruled the girl’s death a homicide but indicated that asphyxia could not be excluded and may revise the cause based on these new revelations. What was once seen as a tragic loss of two children to illness has now been exposed as something far more horrifying—a calculated and deliberate series of killings by a mother who, in her own words, simply wanted the stress of parenting to end.
