Suicide note left by grandmother Debra Dennison who shot dead young grandsons
'You don't deserve children': The vengeful suicide note written by grandmother before she shot dead her two young grandsons and then herself
- Debra Dennison, 47, picked up her grandsons Alton, 2, and Ashton Perry, six months, from their daycare in Preston, Connecticut, on February 26, 2013
- She had long had a volatile relationship with the boys mother, her daughter Brenda Perry, but they had recently reconciled
- Dennison drove the boys to a nearby lake and shot them to death before turning the gun on herself
- A newly-obtained police report shows she left a suicide note to the boys parents, saying they did not deserve children
- Dennison had tried to commit suicide six times in the last 20 years and suffered from dissociative identity disorder
- Relatives told police she had been disturbed from a letter she received a month before the shooting from her son, who is serving a 32-year prison sentence for murder
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A woman who shot and killed her two young grandsons before committing suicide last year left a note to the boys' parents saying they did not deserve to have the children, according to a police report.
Debra Denison, 47, shot and killed her grandsons Alton, 2, and Ashton Denison, six months, in Preston, Conn, before turning the gun on herself
The report, obtained by The Associated Press through a Freedom of Information request, suggests a possible motive for the first time and sheds new light on her mental health problems: The grandmother, Debra Denison, had a history of conflict with the boys' mother and had attempted suicide a half dozen times before.
Denison, 47, picked up two-year-old Alton Perry and six-month-old Ashton Perry at a day care in North Stonington on Feb. 26, 2013, and was supposed to take them home for a birthday party but instead drove to a nearby lake where they were found shot to death after a frantic search.
In addition to a suicide note to her husband, Denison left a note addressed to the boys' parents, Jeremy and Brenda Perry.
Denison was Brenda Perry's mother.
'The note stated among other things that Brenda and Jeremy did not deserve to have the children and Debra wanted them to feel the loss of a child,' state police Detective David Lamoureux wrote in a report on Oct. 22.
Brenda Perry told police she had struggled with her mother for years because of control issues and mental health problems, including dissociative identity disorder, formerly called multiple personality disorder.
Heartbreaking: Alton Perry, left, 2, and Ashton Perry, right, 6 were killed by their grandmother, Debra Denison, in February 2013. A newly-obtained police report shows Denison left a suicide note to the boys' parents saying they did not deserve to have the children
Victims: Ashton (left) and Alton (right) Perry were found dead in a minivan at Lake of Isle in Preston, Connecticut in February 2013. It was Alton's second birthday
Scene: The bodies were found near the state boat launch at the end of Lake of Isles Road in Preston, Connecticut
Perry, 24, said her mother had told Jeremy lies about her in attempts to break up their relationship and she became more easily agitated after they married and had children.
In the months before the killings, Perry said they had decided to mend fences.
Her mother seemed more stable and they were planning to go to counseling together.
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SharePerry had recently added her mother to the list of people authorized to collect the children at day care, but Perry's brother or sister was supposed to accompany Denison.
The grandmother went alone, and day care workers said she was friendly and talkative as she loaded the children in her van.
Jance Denison, Debra's husband, said the revolver that she used belonged to him and was left unloaded in their house.
Brenda Perry, the mother of the pair, posted on the day on their murder: 'God has two beautiful angels helping him now'
Facebook pictures of the boys' parents, Jeremy and Brenda Perry, with Alton, when he was much younger
Jance Denison had acquired the gun from his brother months earlier because Debra Denison insisted on it being at her house following recent burglaries, the brother told police.
Jance Denison said Debra had attempted suicide at least six times over 20 years and been committed but he 'never imagined Debbie was capable of this'.
Several relatives told police that Debra was upset by a letter she received about a week before the shootings from her son, Christopher Allen, who is serving a 32-year prison sentence for a drug-related murder.
Debra Denison is believed to have shot to death her two-year-old and six-month-old grandchildren before turning the gun on herself. Here she is pictured with Alton, who was found dead in the car alongside his little brother Ashton and his grandmother
Allen, who was interviewed in prison during the search for his nephews, said that when he was younger his mother told him he was a product of rape.
A month and a half before the shooting, she told him that was a lie she told because she did not want Allen's biological father to raise him.
Allen said the letter to his mother expressed 'how I truly felt' about her.
The report from state police said the case is closed with no further investigation anticipated.
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