UPDATED: Cops Say Mother & Daughter Confessed To Role In Deaths Of Five Family Members

Updated: 2:01 p.m., Tuesday:

Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub addressed the media in the Justice Center in Doylestown Tuesday afternoon as investigators continued to probe the murders of five people in Morrisville Borough.

Weintraub said investigators are no closer to determining the motive, but will continue to seek answers, adding they want to get justice for the five family members who were killed.

“We will continue to pursue every lead, and we will continue to work this case to its just conclusion,” Weintraub said. “I assume that will be a laborious process.”

The 17-year-old boy, who was related to the victims, that investigators were seeking was located late Monday night. He is safe and made aware of the murders, Weintraub said.

Authorities have said there are no other suspects in the case.

“To be able to resolve a case in which five people were murdered within the course of a half a day and to have the two people responsible locked up and facing justice is just amazing,” Weintraub said.

Like her mother, Dominique Klaran Decree, 19, was charged with five charges of homicide and one count of conspiracy. She was released from Jefferson Bucks Hospital in Falls Township and taken to the Middletown police station for a video arraignment around noon. Senior District Judge John Durkin sent Decree to the Bucks County Correctional Facility without bail due to the serious charges.

Constables left the Middletown police station with Dominique Decree around 1:30 p.m. to transport her to prison.

Original Story:

Police and county detectives entered the three-bedroom, ground-floor Morrisville Borough apartment where five people were found dead and discovered it in disarray early Monday evening.

Inside the unit at the Robert Morris Apartments on West Bridge Street, investigators found the bodies of Naa’Irah Smith, 25, of Morrisville; Damon Decree Jr., 13, of Morrisville; Jamilla Campbell, 42, of Trenton; and Campbell’s twin daughters, Erika and Imani Allen, both 9.

Shana Selena Decree, 45, and her daughter Dominique Klaran Decree, 19, both of Morrisville, were disordented at the scene and one was suffering from a seizure, police said.

The two women were taken to a nearby hospital and Shana Decree was released to police custody overnight, while Dominique Decree remained at Jefferson Bucks Hospital in Falls Township as of Tuesday morning.

Shana Decree was arraigned before on-call District Judge Jan Vislosky on five charges of homicide and one count of conspiracy at 3:30 a.m. Tuesday. She was remanded to the county prison without bail.

Shana Decree was the mother of Smith and Damon Decree Jr.

In an interview with police, Shana Decree allegedly said everyone in the apartment, including the children, wanted to die. She said that everyone was talking about suicide and she took part in the killings with her daughter and sister Campbell, who ended up being choked to death by Dominique Decree.

Dominique Decree, according to court papers, told detectives that she knew her mother and Campbell choked several of the victims before she killed her aunt.

Police said they found four bodies in a bedroom and later located a fifth victim under another body.

The five deceased and the two defendants lived in the apartment, police said.

Dominique Decree, who had injuries to her neck, initially told investigators that she did not know what happened at first and claimed an unknown man caused the injuries to her neck. Adding later that three men caused the deaths. She also reportedly said she wished to die several times.

At first, Shana Decree also allegedly denied knowing what happened and blamed her sister’s boyfriend and two other unknown men.

Court papers detail how a Bucks County Children and Youth caseworker was checking on the apartment at 4 p.m. Monday for an unannounced visit when no one answered. The complex maintenance worker opened the door to the apartment that had broken glass and overturned furniture and found Shana and Dominique Decree disoriented. Police were summoned to the scene. Arriving officers called for medics and the investigation began.

As the afternoon rolled into evening, a hazardous materials team checked to make sure the apartment was safe for detectives. Late Monday night, the coroner’s office arrived and removed the bodies.

Police said the county children and youth agency had been involved with the family and officers had made stops at the apartment previously but made no arrests.

The ground-floor apartment was the former leasing office for the building.

Editor’s Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The story was compiled using information from police and public court documents.

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