She’ll be sentenced Nov. 2
A Kansas City woman who murdered her eight-year-old son by drowning him in a bathtub and tried to kill her six-year-old son by smothering him has admitted to her crimes. Aushena Warren, 33, pleaded guilty to second degree murder and first degree assault in Platte County Circuit Court on August 27.
Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd said, “Fortunately, this guilty plea spared a young boy from having to testify about his mother trying to smother him to death and murdering his older brother. At sentencing, we will seek a sentence of life in prison for her horrific crimes.”
During the plea hearing, Warren admitted that, on June 17, 2017, she tried to smother her six-year-old son to death while he was laying in bed at their home on North London Avenue in Kansas City. She then drowned her eight-year-old son in a bathtub.
Warren’s husband was at work when the crimes occurred. He received a FaceTime call from his six-year-old son and rushed home. Warren was not there, but he found his oldest son unresponsive in a bathtub full of water.
Emergency personnel declared the boy dead at the scene, and a medical examiner concluded he died of drowning as the result of a homicide.
Passersby saw Warren jump from the Kit Bond bridge at about 9:42 a.m. on the day of the crimes. The Kansas City Fire Department happened to be conducting water rescue training near the bridge, and they rescued Warren. She was treated at a hospital for her injuries.
Warren left a note at the scene of her crimes. It read:
Tell the world I’m sorry. I had to save us from this financial crisis. There was no way to fund our lives and I blame myself for that. I had to save the babies from wondering why their parents had to give them up to family or the system. I’m so sorry. Mom, I’m sorry… [Name redacted], I’m sorry. I love you guys… You’ll never understand this and nothing makes this acceptable…but I had to save the babies. [Husband’s name redacted]… I’m sorry, I blame myself and lack of everything for us landing here.
Warren’s iPhone was searched pursuant to a search warrant. Forensic investigators with the Heart of America Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory found searches including:
“how long does it take to drown”
“how long does it take to suffocate someone”
“mother murders children”
“can pillows smother”
“which kills you faster suffocating or drowning”
“family of mother who drowned children”
Warren’s internet web history revealed searches with the terms “missouri women prison” and “how I became a murderer.”
Zahnd said, “It’s almost impossible to comprehend the trauma this six-year-old boy has experienced as a result of his mother trying to kill him. And it’s even sadder to think about his older brother’s life being extinguished at age eight by his own mother. Justice demands a life sentence for these nearly unimaginable crimes, and that’s exactly the sentence we will seek in this case.”
Warren has been held in the Platte County jail since June 26, 2017 in lieu of $500,000 cash bond. Her sentencing is set for Nov. 2 at 9 a.m.
The case was investigated by the Kansas City Police Department with the assistance of the Heart of America Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory, It is being prosecuted by Zahnd and Mark Gibson, first assistant prosecuting attorney.