Kiersten Jeter is not dead but still alive. She is a young American girl who survived a murder attempt by her own mother, Debra Jeter. Since the incident, Kiersten has been living her life completely out of the public eye.
Debra Jeter is currently serving her prison term for stabbing her two children – Kelsey, 12, and Kiersten, 13 – in an abandoned home off interstate 77 in Hillsboro, Texas. Kiersten survived the murder attempt, but her sister Kelsey died in the process.
Who is Kiersten Jeter?
Kiersten Jeter is the daughter of Debra Janelle Jeter, an American mother and civilian infamous for attacking her two daughters, Kelsey and Kiersten. Kiersten only became an internet sensation following her mother’s attempt to kill her.
Her mother, Debra, was born in 1954 in her home country, the United States of America. Although there is no information regarding Debra’s parents and family background, we gathered that she holds American citizenship and belongs to the white ethnic group. Debra Jeter is a murderer and is living the rest of her life behind the bars.
What Happened to Kiersten Jeter?
On the 5th of June 2009, the internet went agog after the news of Debra’s attack on her two children went viral. The aforementioned, who is the biological mother of Kiersten Jeter and her younger sister Kelsey Jeter, physically assaulted and attacked her two daughters, which led to the death of Kelsey.
As of the time of this event, Kelsey was 12, while Kiersten was 13. While Kelsey died, Kiersten survived the incident.
How It All Started
In 2004, Debra Jeter was charged with physically abusing her daughter Kiersten. However, the charges were dropped following her admission into a mental health hospital. While she was undergoing mental health therapy, her husband, Lester Lee Jeter, filed court proceedings to get a divorce from his wife for unclear reasons. Their divorce process was finalized in May 2009.
Following this, Debra reacted badly to the separation and attempted to take her own life on 22nd May 2009 in front of her two daughters whom she had with Lester. According to her, the divorce worsened her mental health, which she already had been managing. Consequently, she was taken back to a mental health care center, where she stayed for some time.
Meanwhile, after he filed for divorce, Lester also acquired a temporary restraining order and was granted temporary custody of his two daughters while Debra was still in the hospital. According to Leser Lee’s plea in the court document, he was seeking to protect the safety and well-being of the children as well as anyone else who has been a victim of family violence.
However, a judge, while a court hearing was held, removed the restraining order a day after Debra was discharged, and she was allowed to visit her children without supervision.
The Attempted Murder Incident Happened in 2009
Speaking of how the horror incident happened, Debra Jeter, after she was released from the hospital, made plans on how to visit her two daughters. Then, on the fateful Friday, 5th June 2009, which was the first scheduled court order visitation day, her ex-husband drove the children to where she was staying.
According to reports, Kiersten and her sister Kelsey were overjoyed to see their mother after what sources termed “a 15-day absence”. Debra informed Lester, her now-divorced husband, that she planned a surprise outing for their kids, and he obliged her to go with them. Then, she picked them up and drove down to an abandoned residence off Interstate 77 in Milford, just before Route 35.
According to reports, Debra first began to attack her older daughter Kiersten with a knife. While battling with her mother, Kiersten started yelling to inform her sister to run. As a result, her mother turned her attention away from Kiersten and now to Kelsey. Kiersten, on her own part, persisted in her attempt to defend her sister, but unfortunately, all her measures failed.
Thus, their mother stabbed her in the back and other parts of her body and slit Kelsey’s throat. Kelsey took to her heels, but Debra pursued her and ended up killing her in the abandoned house’s bathroom. She then returned to Kiersten, who was still struggling with her own life, and hacked off her airway alongside one of her main arteries.
She went further to cut one side of the neck. However, despite the grave injuries, Kiersten remained alive and conscious, begging her mother for assistance. Meanwhile, about three hours after the ugly incident, Debra dialed the police number to report the crime and said, “I just slaughtered my children.”
She did not offer any help to her daughter. Instead, she was panicking, wandering about the abandoned building, and beckoning the ambulance to hurry up, claiming that her daughter was struggling with her life and begging to be saved and that she couldn’t bear the sight of that. Also, in an attempt to defend herself, Debra told the dispatcher that she didn’t have any gun with her and so didn’t want the cops to shoot her.
Kiersten Jeter’s Mother, Debra Jeter, was Sentenced to Life Imprisonment
Following the incident, Debra Jeter being the main and only suspect was sentenced to life imprisonment on the 27th of May 2010 without any possibility of parole. She accepted a plea deal in which she gave admission to attempted capital murder and capital murder.
Even though she was in attendance during the court hearing, Kiersten Jeter was spared from having to testify in court because of the plea deal, which circumvented the potential of a death sentence. The charges leveled against Debra were the attempted murder of Kiersten Leigh Jeter, aged 13, and the first-degree murder of Kelsey Leanne Jeter, aged 12.
Debra was convicted by a judge in a court sitting in Texas, USA. Meanwhile, to justify her horrible conduct, Debra Jeter claimed that she was heartbroken due to her divorce and child custody struggle. She is still alive and serving her prison term.
Where is Kiersten Jeter Now?
Upon the police’s arrival at the murder scene, Kiersten was airlifted for prompt emergency surgery. She survived the attack, but it was quite sad that Kelsey did not survive. Well, there have been questions about Kiersten’s whereabouts and whether she is still alive.
Yes, Kierste Jeter is still alive, but there is no reliable information about her whereabouts and what she has been up to. The surviving victim has, after the gruesome incident, stayed completely out of the limelight. Though time has passed, the incident remains soul-wrenching for many to handle.