Mother mourns "three beautiful little souls" after children drowned, husband charged with murder
CHICAGO (CBS) -- "He took them away from me, because he knew that would hurt me the most."
That's Debra Karels' painful reaction after her estranged husband was charged with drowning their three children at his home in Round Lake Beach.
Karels spoke Wednesday, two days after her children were found dead, as people gathered Wednesday at the Round Lake Beach municipal building to pray and support Debra, who is grieving an unthinkable loss.
"My children were absolutely amazing. They were three beautiful little souls that didn't deserve this," she said.
Prosecutors have said Debra's estranged husband, 35-year-old Jason Karels, gave a detailed statement on video to drowning each of his children, one at a time, in the bathtub at his Round Lake Beach home.
"He always said he would never do anything to the kids. You know, I never thought anything of it, and I have regret every day of my life that I let him see those kids, because I would have never thought that he would have done something so tragic like this," Debra said.
Debra bravely spoke out Wednesday afternoon, after Jason was ordered held on $10 million bail.
She described each of the three children she lost.
"He always told me, 'Don't worry, mommy, I'll always take care of you,'" she said of 5-year-old Bryant.
Debra said Bryant was "super-duper smart."
"He loved Sonic, he loved video games," she said.
Of her middle child, 3-year-old Cassidy, Debra called her "the sweetest girl in the world."
And 2-year-old Gideon "was momma's boy."
"He was my baby boy. My baby boy that I didn't think I would ever have," she said.
Days later, she still can't comprehend how her husband – who she said struggled with mental health issues – could do something like this.
"The most important thing to me were the kids, and he knew that. He knew that nothing mattered but those children, and he took them away from me, because he knew that would hurt me the most."
Debra is separated from her husband. She said she left him one month ago.
"He constantly played games, and neglected this family," she said.
She had brought the children to visit their father this past weekend.
"I thought what was right was the father should be involved. The father should see them," she said.
When she went to pick them up on Monday, she found their lifeless bodies on a bed inside the home.
Police said they found a letter Jason had written inside the house, which said, "If I can't have them, neither can you." Prosecutors said he was referring to the children in his letter.
Debra said the murders happened amid divorce proceedings.
"I just had so much faith; so much faith, so much love that it would all work out in the end, and it didn't," she said.
Still, barely able to speak through her grief, Debra said she can only find relief from her pain through faith.
"You want to know that your kids are safe, you want to know that your kids are there, and you want to know that you can be with them someday, so that all the other stuff doesn't matter … and I can be with my children one day," she said.
Debra and her sister-in-law said she had the courage to speak, because she wants other women to be aware that domestic and mental health struggles can happen to anyone in any relationship, and there are resources you can go to for help.
Jason was arrested after leading police on a high-speed chase across several highways on Monday, before crashing his car in a wooded area along Interstate 80 near Water Street in Joliet.
Police have said Jason admitted to killing the children, and to attempting suicide multiple times before the chase.
He was taken to a hospital for observation before he was charged and taken to jail.
There's a growing tribute to the children outside the home where the children died. People have left balloons, candles, flowers, and stuffed animals.
Investigators are awaiting the results of toxicological tests to determine if the children were drugged before they were drowned, but authorities said there were no other signs of injuries on the children.
