Jarmecca Yvonne "Nikki" Whitehead (April 18, 1975 – January 13, 2010) was a 34-year-old mother of 16-year-old identical twins named Jasmiyah Kaneesha Whitehead and Tasmiyah Janeesha Whitehead (born on November 27, 1993). On the afternoon of January 13, 2010, she was found dead in the bathroom of her

Conyers, Georgia Conyers is an Atlanta suburb, the county seat of and only city in Rockdale County, Georgia, Rockdale County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. The city is 24 miles (38.6 km) east of Atlanta, downtown Atlanta and is a part of t ...

, home in the Bridle Ridge Walk subdivision. She had been beaten with a vase and stabbed repeatedly. Her daughters, Jasmiyah ("Jas") and Tasmiyah ("Tas"), were arrested four months after the slaying on May 21, 2010, and charged with

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

. Both initially pleaded not guilty. In a

plea agreement A plea bargain (also plea agreement or plea deal) is an agreement in criminal law proceedings, whereby the prosecutor provides a concession to the defendant in exchange for a plea of guilt or '' nolo contendere.'' This may mean that the defendan ...

, each twin pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of

voluntary manslaughter Voluntary manslaughter is the killing of a human being in which the offender acted during ''the heat of passion'', under circumstances that would cause a reasonable person to become emotionally or mentally disturbed to the point that they cannot ...

in 2014. They were sentenced to serve 30 years in prison.

History

In 2000, 25-year-old Nikki met 55-year-old truck driver Robert Head. It was not long before she and the girls moved in with Robert in the city of

. Tasmiyah and Jasmiyah were both honor roll students and Girl Scouts. The girls were initially raised by their great-grandmother, Della Frazier. Frazier said that Whitehead was a sporadic and random presence in her children's lives. In 2007, when the twins were 13, Whitehead requested custody of them. Whitehead and the twins clashed. Frazier said that the twins saw their mother's attempts to control them as hypocritical. The conflicts escalated to physical altercations and resulted in counseling and

juvenile court A juvenile court, also known as young offender's court or children's court, is a tribunal having special authority to pass judgements for crimes that are committed by children who have not attained the age of majority. In most modern legal s ...

appearances. Frazier was given custody again, only to have Whitehead regain custody on January 5, 2010. The girls protested the decision, but the court ordered them and their mother to live together for a two-week trial period. Whitehead was killed on January 13, 2010. The twins said that they discovered their mother dead. The medical examiner called the killing a

crime of passion A crime of passion (French: ''crime passionnel''), in popular usage, refers to a violent crime, especially homicide, in which the perpetrator commits the act against someone because of sudden strong impulse such as anger rather than as a premed ...

and not likely to have been performed by a stranger. Whitehead's boyfriend was cleared after DNA testing. Evidence, including bite marks attributed to wounds inflicted by their mother during the fight, implicated the twins, and they were charged in May 2010. Both initially pleaded not guilty.

Convictions

In January 2014, Tasmiyah pleaded guilty to

and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. On February 7, 2014, one month after her twin, Jasmiyah pleaded guilty and is serving the same sentence. The twins are incarcerated at separate prisons within the

Georgia Department of Corrections The Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) is an agency of the U.S. state of Georgia operating state prisons. The agency is headquartered in Forsyth, on the former campus of Tift College. Headquarters The GDC has its offices in Gibson Hall, lo ...

. Tasmiyah is serving her sentence in

Pulaski State Prison Pulaski State Prison (PSP) is a Georgia Department of Corrections prison for women located in Hawkinsville, Georgia. It has thirteen buildings with forty eight double bunk rooms. The facility opened in 1994. History Around the period 2005-20 ...

and Jasmiyah is serving her sentence in

Arrendale State Prison Lee Arrendale State Prison of the Georgia Department of Corrections is a women's prison located in Raoul, unincorporated Habersham County, Georgia, near Alto, and in proximity to Gainesville. It houses the state death row for women. It became ...

. They were eligible for parole in 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitehead, Nikki 2010 in Georgia (U.S. state) 2014 in Georgia (U.S. state) Deaths by person in Georgia (U.S. state) January 2010 events in the United States Matricides

History

Convictions

See also

References