I knew Jessie was evil at 3, but nothing could have prepared me for her final act…

Amanda Leek experienced an unimaginable nightmare: her daughter, Jessie, was convicted of murdering her own aunt, and the tragedy indirectly led to the death of her son, James. Jessie had shown signs of cruelty since childhood, but no one expected her final act of violence that would destroy the family.

Amanda Leek realized her daughter Jessie was having problems from a young age. Over the years, the girl’s behavior became increasingly concerning, culminating in a brutal murder that destroyed her family, reports the Daily Mail .

“I was worried about Jessie almost from the day she was born,” Amanda says . From an early age, the girl showed signs that she wasn’t like other children – she stole, lied and even attacked her younger sister, Codie. “She was only three years old when she started lying constantly. Then, a few months later, she became sinister – she hit Codie in the head with a rock and laughed, then wiped her bloody hands and licked them.”

When Jessie became a teenager, her behavior deteriorated even further. She ran away from home at 15 to be with her boyfriend and even called the police against her own family. At 20, she became a mother, but even that didn’t change her. Moreover, her aunt, Karen, was the one who took on the responsibility of raising the child.

A shocking crime
Tensions between Karen and Jessie grew, and eventually the older woman found the girl a separate home. But Jessie never appreciated the help she received. “She was rude, ungrateful, and sometimes even malicious ,” recalls the young woman’s mother, Amanda .

One day, when Karen and Amanda were organizing a relative’s funeral, Jessie refused to sit with her daughter and said contemptuously, “If you’re going to get a coffin, get one for yourself too.”

Shortly after, tragedy struck. Codie came crying to Amanda and said, “Mom, Karen is dead.”

Jessie initially claimed that her grandmother’s death was the result of a botched robbery. But when Amanda entered the house and saw the blood on the walls, she had a chilling revelation: “Jessie did this.”

A few days later, Jessie’s boyfriend turned over a blood-stained hammer found in their home to the police. Jessie was arrested and charged with murder.

One tragedy that led to another
As Jessie waited for the trial, the family was devastated. Her brother, James , 21, felt guilty for not being there for Karen. “Mom, I blame myself. If I had stayed with Karen, this wouldn’t have happened ,” he told Amanda.

One night, on the way to his girlfriend’s house, James drove too fast, lost control of the wheel, and died in an accident. Officially, the police determined that it was due to fatigue, but Amanda is convinced that this tragedy was also Jessie’s “work”.

“In my mind, Jessie killed her brother, just like she killed Karen. Stressed, tired and in pain, she drove too fast. It’s all her fault.”

The sentence that brings no peace
In 2021, Jessie pleaded guilty to murder. The judge heard that the woman attacked her grandmother with a hammer at least 12 times, then put a plastic bag over her head. She then walked out of the house as if nothing had happened, bought cigarettes and food from KFC. She hid the blood-soaked hammer in a cupboard in her daughter’s room.

Jessie was sentenced to 18 years in prison, with the possibility of release after 13 years. The sentencing was broadcast on Zoom due to restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

But for Amanda, nothing will ever be the same. “I don’t know if Jessie is a psychopath, a sociopath, or just evil, but I do know that she is beyond rehabilitation. She’s the same girl who, at three years old, hit her sister with a rock and laughed.”

“When James died, we lost the wrong child. It should have been Jessie,” the killer’s mother concluded.