--- description: An Ohio mother accused of killing three sons allegedly told authorities that she smothered them with blankets to hide their "suffering.” title: 'I Didn't Want to See Them Suffering': Mom Says She Used Blankets to Smother 3 Young Sons image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt19f2cba76bcef497/6988aadd5f570f3961b22f8c/logan-county-mom.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 'I Didn't Want to See Them Suffering': Mom Says She Used Blankets to Smother 3 Young Sons  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 20, 2016 5:56 PM CUT  Brittany Pilkington appears for arraignment on three capital murder charges with her attorney Marc S. Triplett in Logan County Common Pleas Court in Bellefontaine, Ohio, on Aug. 26, 2015\. Pilkington is charged with suffocating her three sons over a 13-month period. Brittany Pilkington appears for arraignment on three capital murder charges with her attorney Marc S. Triplett in Logan County Common Pleas Court in Bellefontaine, Ohio, on Aug. 26, 2015\. Pilkington is charged with suffocating her three sons over a 13-month period.Joel E. Mast—Bellefontaine Examine/AP  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 20, 2016 5:56 PM CUT An Ohio mother [accused of killing three of her young sons](http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2016/10/19/video-confession-boys-deaths.html# "undefined") allegedly told authorities that she chose to smother them by covering their faces with blankets because she “didn’t want to see them suffering.” [Brittany Pilkington](http://www.cleveland.com/nation/index.ssf/2016/10/ohio%5Fwoman%5Fdescribes%5Fkilling%5F3.html "undefined"), 24, made the confessions in videotaped interviews with investigators, the Columbus _Dispatch_ reports. The footage in which the Bellefontaine mother describes why she hid their faces with blankets was shown during a court hearing Wednesday, the newspaper said. “I didn’t want to see it,” she said. “I didn’t want to see them suffering.” Pilkington allegedly told authorities she was motivated to kill the boys because her husband paid more attention to his sons than he did to their daughter, according to the _Dispatch_. She faces charges of aggravated murders in the deaths of her 4-year-old son, Gavin, and two 3-month-old sons, Niall and Noah. The three boys were killed during three separate months between July 2014 and August 2015\. Pilkington was arrested after the most recent death in August. She has pleaded not guilty. Her lawyers say her confession was made against her will and without the presence of legal representation, according to the [Bellefontaine _Examiner_](http://www.examiner.org/news/72618-hearings-to-suppress-pilkington-statements-begin "undefined"). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4539009/mother-smothers-sons-blankets-suffering/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4539009/mother-smothers-sons-blankets-suffering/"},"headline":"'I Didn't Want to See Them Suffering': Mom Says She Used Blankets to Smother 3 Young Sons","datePublished":"2016-10-20T17:56:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T10:18:24.397Z","description":"\"I didn't want to see it\"","url":"https://time.com/4539009/mother-smothers-sons-blankets-suffering/","keywords":["Crime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt19f2cba76bcef497/6988aadd5f570f3961b22f8c/logan-county-mom.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt19f2cba76bcef497/6988aadd5f570f3961b22f8c/logan-county-mom.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Dead Sons-Mother Charged","caption":"Brittany Pilkington appears for arraignment on three capital murder charges with her attorney Marc S. 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