The Darlie Routier Case: Did the Mother Kill Her Two Sons, Devin and Damon?

June 6th, 1996, at 2:31 a.m., the police received a frantic and horrifying call from Darlie.

Darlie said that she and her children had been stabbed and that they needed an ambulance, the police, and everything. She sounded hysterical and inconsolable, which most people would be in that situation. She referred to Devin and Damon as “my babies,” “my little boys,” and “my kids,” but never used their first names. (Remember this.)

The police arrived within the first 4 minutes of Darlie being on the phone with 911. During the call, Darlie mentioned an intruder but varied on how many intruders she believed she had seen. At the beginning of the call, Darlie said, “They came here, they broke in.” However, later in the call, she said, “Some man came in and stabbed my babies,” and also, “They’re over there by the garage.” She wasn’t clear if it was some men, one man, or a group.

Officer Waddell was the first to arrive on the scene and enter the house. The pictures from the scene were graphic and disturbing. The officer described the scene as an absolute bloodbath. Blood was everywhere—on the walls, the kitchen floor, and seeping into the carpet. He saw the two boys on the living room floor in pools of their own blood, with deep stab wounds to their chests and backs. Officer Waddell described Devin as lying face up, eyes open, and already deceased. Damon was on the other side of the living room, close to a wall, crawling slowly and making gurgling noises as he struggled to breathe.

Officer Waddell told Darlie to get a towel and put pressure on the boys’ wounds, but she didn’t. He told her four different times to put pressure specifically on Damon’s wound, but she never did, even though she was holding a towel on her own wound.

Damon was rushed to the hospital, but unfortunately, he passed away in the ambulance. Darlie had also been stabbed in the neck and arm. She was rushed to the hospital and required emergency surgery for her neck injury. While Darlie was in the hospital, police were back at the home trying to figure out what had happened. They examined the crime scene all night and into the next morning. Some of the stab wounds were so deep that they nearly passed through the other side of the boys’ bodies. Investigators believed that whoever committed the crime intended to kill the boys but did not intend to kill Darlie.

Financial hardships and depression don’t necessarily lead to someone killing their children, but the police decided to keep a close eye on Darlie for the time being.

In another well-known case, the death of Caylee Anthony, photos of Casey Anthony partying and getting new tattoos during the 31 days her daughter was missing were leaked. Similarly, Darlie’s case had its own “Bella Vita moment,” which became the final nail in the coffin for investigators.

The video, recorded eight days after Damon and Devin were murdered in their own home in front of their mother, was taken on Devin’s seventh birthday. It showed the grieving mother laughing, dancing, and spraying silly string over her boys’ freshly dug graves, as though she was celebrating. Police believed this demonstrated her lack of remorse and guilt. Just like Casey Anthony’s party photos, this video turned Darlie’s case into a media sensation nationwide. Darlie was arrested four days later and charged with capital murder. At just 27 years old, she faced lethal injection. She was quickly labeled as “Dallas’ Susan Smith.”

So, what really happened that night?

While the prosecution didn’t specify why Darlie would commit such a crime, they didn’t need to. They just had to prove to the jury that she did it.

Some theories suggested financial problems as a motive, or that this was a failed attempt to kill her boys and then take her own life.

Darlie did an interview while in prison after her conviction, adamantly claiming her innocence. People who knew Darlie said the prosecution painted a very different picture of her, one that didn’t match the person they knew. They insisted she could never have done this.

Darlie remains on death row in Texas and has done numerous interviews, maintaining her innocence.

Darlie and Darin remained close even after her incarceration. Darin also insists she is innocent. The couple divorced in 2011, not because he believed she was guilty, but because he had to focus on raising their youngest son, Drake, and move forward with his life. Darin has since remarried but continues to support Darlie, claiming there’s no way she killed their sons.

Was there an invisible intruder? Is there an innocent mother on death row who was framed for her children’s murder? Or was Darlie’s conviction correct, and she brutally murdered her children and now regrets it?

Devin and Damon were absolutely precious little boys. Whoever was responsible for this heinous crime is either on death row now or still out in the world.

If Darlie committed this, the biggest question remains: What was the motive?