Jennifer Bowser is an alleged killer from Pennsylvania who has been charged with the murder of her five year old son
According to police reports officers were called to a residence with the report of an unconscious child. When the officers arrived they would find the body of a five year old who looked like he had been dead for hours
Jennifer Bowser would tell officers that the voices told her she had to kill her son or else he would go to hell so she smothered the child, Samson Bowser, causing his death
Jennifer Bowser was arrested and has been charged with one count each of general criminal homicide, aggravated assault resulting in serious bodily injury to a victim under age 13
Jennifer Bowser News
Cambria County coroner Jeff Lees has released the official cause of death for 5-year-old Samson Bowser, who authorities say was allegedly killed by his mother, Jennifer Bowser, on Monday afternoon.
Lees has ruled Bowser’s death as asphyxia due to “compression of the chest and obstruction of the airway.’
The coroner’s office has also formally ruled his death as a homicide.
Police say 41-year-old Jennifer Bowser was arraigned Monday night after her son was found unresponsive at Martha’s Manor, in Cresson Township, where she and her child were reportedly living.
Authorities say Bowser is accused of killing her son because “voices” told her to do so.
During a press conference Tuesday afternoon, Cambria County coroner Jeff Lees identified the 5-year-old boy who was reportedly killed by his mother, 41-year-old Jennifer Bowser.
Lees said that when authorities arrived at Martha’s Manor, in Lilly, Monday afternoon, Samson Bowser had reportedly been dead for hours already.
Officials say an autopsy of the boy is scheduled for late Tuesday.
Authorities noted that Jennifer Bowser and her son had reportedly been living at the facility, for approximately one year, since the facility was owned by the child’s grandmother (Jennifer Bowser’s mother).
According to the criminal affidavit, police say Bowser had allegedly killed her son because “voices” told her to do so.
Authorities also noted that, according to her family, she had recently sought treatment at a mental health facility due to the so-called “voices.”
Jennifer Bowser Other News
A Lilly woman is in jail after police said she claimed to have heard voices telling her to kill her 5-year-old son, Samson Bowser.
Jennifer Bowser, 41, is facing a criminal homicide charge after police and EMS were dispatched for a cardiac arrest of a five-year-old on the 100 block of Cosey Lane on Monday, Feb. 5.
Authorities arrived at Martha’s Manor where they found a woman giving CPR to the child. According to court documents, it was determined that the child was unable to be revived.
Police talked to Bowser’s sister, who said that Bowser and the child had been living at the residence for “awhile” with Bowser’s mother and that the last time she saw the victim alive was on Sunday, Feb. 4, according to the criminal complaint. She claimed that she went to check on the child on Feb. 5 and found him laying on the floor. She then moved him to a different room and began to perform CPR.
In a press conference on Tuesday, Feb. 6, it was noted that there was no history of calls to the manor in relation to Bowser or her child. District Attorney Greg Neugebauer said that while the two lived at the manor, they lived in a separate area away from the other residence.
Bowser’s mother told police that Bowser had been to the doctor on Jan. 30 because she had been “hearing voices,” according to the complaint. Her mother also told police that at the time, they did not have an official diagnosis for Bowser.
When questioned by police, Bowser claimed that she was hearing a voice from “a machine box or mic box” and that the voices allegedly told her to smother the child so that he didn’t go to “H E double hockey sticks.”
Bowser was then taken to the police station to talk more with the officers. During this conversation, she allegedly told police that on Sunday, Feb. 4 she went outside twice during the day to check the furnace and then would barricade herself back into her room with her child, according to the criminal complaint.
Bowser claimed that she barricaded herself with the 5-year-old because a female voice “Kayla” told her the child was hers, not Bowser’s, and was attempting to take the child from her. Later in the evening, Bowser allegedly heard the voices again, with them saying that “the cops were coming and were going to shoot through the wall and kill” the child if she didn’t smother him, the complaint reads.
Bowser claimed that the voices continued to get “meaner and meaner” and told her that there were “guys with guns looking in the windows and were going to shoot through the wall.” Bowser also allegedly told police that the voices said that it would be better to smother the five-year-old than to have him be shot, according to the complaint.
Bowser told police that she allegedly smothered the child by using her hands and a blanket. As she used the blanket to cover his face, she said the child was strong and kept hitting and biting her. According to the complaint, Bowser also attempted to break the child’s neck to kill him faster.
Neugebauer also said that while mental health is going to be a large part of the case, there are also a lot of privacy concerns when it comes to disclosing information.
“To say that this is a difficult case for law enforcement is an understatement. Many of us are parents and I think we all hugged our kids a little harder last night,” Neugebauer said.
Bowser is now facing a criminal homicide charge, a felony charge of aggravated assault of a victim less than 13 and a felony charge of strangulation.
She is in the Cambria County Prison after being denied bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Feb. 20.
Tuesday evening Cambria Coroner Jeff Lees concluded via autopsy that Samson’s death was ruled as a homicide as a result asphyxia due to compression of the chest and airway.
Cresson Township police department, Cresson Borough police department, Cambria County detective borough, Cambria Lions EMS, Keystone Alliance fire company and the DA’s office were on scene. Detective John Kutchman and Chief Mike Nycum assisted in the investigation.