Causes Of Death Released In Morrisville Apartment Killings

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — The medical examiner has completed a report into the deaths of five people found deceased last month in a Morrisville apartment building. Two women — Shana Decree and her daughter Dominique Decree— are charged in the deaths, which involved family members.

According to the Bucks County Coroner's findings, four of the pair’s victims — 9-year-old twin sisters Imani and Erika Allen, Naa’Irah Smith, 25, and Damon Decree, Jr., 13, — died by asphyxiation. Jamilla Campbell, 42-year-old mother to Imani and Erika, died from strangulation.

The manner of death for each victim was ruled homicide.

Shana Decree, 46, and Dominique Decree, 19, each face five counts each of criminal homicide. They also are charged with criminal conspiracy. They are both scheduled for a preliminary hearing on April 25 at the Bucks County Justice Center in Doylestown.

“The investigation into these murders continues with one goal: justice for five people killed in Bucks County. We are committed to seeking justice for Erika, Imani, Damon, Naa’Irah and Jamilla” said Deputy District Attorney Christopher W. Rees, who is assigned to prosecution.

Rees asked that the community respect the families’ privacy as they continue to mourn their loved ones.

The bodies were discovered on Feb. 25 inside a bedroom of apartment S-7 at Robert Morris Apartments on West Bridge Street.

Responding officers also located two women, later identified as Shana and Dominique Decree, in a bed. The women were "disoriented" and the apartment was in disarray, investigators said. Furniture was turned over and there was broken glass and clutter throughout the apartment, according to the affidavit.

In the hospital, Dominique Decree, who had injuries to her neck, at first denied knowing how their family members had died. She repeatedly told investigators she also wanted to die, the affidavit said.

Shana, in a separate exam room, also at first denied knowing what happened, then later claimed her daughter's boyfriend and two others killed the family, the affidavit said. But she soon changed her story, telling police that everyone in the apartment, including the children, had been talking about suicide and "wanted to die."