WAXAHACHIE, Texas — Investigators with the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office are working to determine why a mother allegedly shot and killed both of her sons inside their home early Thursday morning.
Deputies responded just after 4 a.m. on October 1 to a 911 call reporting an unknown emergency at a residence on Big Sky Drive. Inside, they found 21-year-old Christopher Scott Pitre and his 15-year-old brother, Brian Pitre. Christopher was pronounced dead at the scene. Brian was rushed to a hospital in critical condition but later died from his injuries. Both boys had been shot in the head and were found in separate bedrooms, according to a search warrant affidavit.
Authorities identified the boys’ mother, 42-year-old Colleen Nichole Lemmon, at the scene with non-life-threatening injuries. She was taken into custody and transported to a hospital before being booked on two counts of capital murder. Investigators said evidence recovered at the home, along with her reported statement to deputies that she had shot both of her children, established probable cause. Bond was set at $2.5 million. No motive has been released.
A neighbor who lives down the street told a reporter she saw and heard the police response. “Someone killing their own children? That blows my mind,” she said. “I can’t picture anyone killing her kids. It just doesn’t make sense. I just don’t understand something like that.”
The case has renewed public questions about what is happening in America amid a string of high-profile reports involving mothers accused of killing or seriously harming their children. In recent weeks alone, a South Carolina mother was charged with homicide by child abuse after her 2-year-old and 15-month-old daughters were found dead from starvation and dehydration; another South Carolina woman faces attempted murder charges after allegedly attacking her 3- and 6-year-old children with a knife and blunt object, leaving them with dozens of stab wounds; and an Illinois mother was charged with murder in the death of her 2-year-old son. Earlier cases, including the ongoing trial of Lindsay Clancy in Massachusetts, accused of strangling her three young children in 2023 amid a documented mental health crisis, have drawn similar attention.
Filicide, the killing of a child by a parent, remains statistically rare. Studies drawing on national incident data over recent decades have found it accounts for a small share of overall homicides, with roughly several hundred parent-perpetrated child killings estimated annually in the United States and rates that have stayed relatively stable rather than showing a sharp national surge.
Mothers are more frequently involved in cases involving very young victims, often linked in research to factors such as severe mental illness, postpartum conditions, substance issues, or acute stressors, though fathers account for a substantial portion of filicides overall, particularly of older children.
Law enforcement and mental health experts have long noted that many such cases involve prior warning signs, contact with protective services, or untreated psychiatric conditions, yet prevention remains difficult. The Ellis County investigation continues, and officials have not indicated whether additional details on Lemmon’s mental state or circumstances will be released. The boys’ father has spoken publicly about seeking justice.
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