The safest place for kids should be in the care of their parents. Tragically, child abuse and worse happens at the hands of mothers and fathers every day. Worse even, unspeakable crimes can be acts of revenge one parent carries out to get back at the other.
Recently, a California father pleaded guilty to an attempted murder-suicide after her was “angry” at his wife. Robert Brians drove his truck off a cliff with his twin 2-year-old daughters inside. And now, he has been sentenced.
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Robert Brians was sentenced to 31 years in prison after driving his twins off a cliff in 2020.
On September 20, Brians, 51, was sentenced to 31 years in state prison, according to a news release from prosecutors. The disgraced dad took his 2-year-old twin daughters, Aubrey and Hailey, from his parents’ home in the middle of the night on June 13, 2020, “intent on killing the girls and himself.” He then intentionally drove his pickup truck off Sunset Cliffs in San Diego. Miraculously, Brians and his daughters survived.
On August 9, he pleaded guilty as part of a deal.
Although the incident happened in 2020, Brians only recently pleaded guilty. He entered guilty pleas on August 9 for counts of attempted murder, child abuse, kidnapping, domestic violence, and burglary, People reported. The move was part of a plea deal in exchange for a lesser sentence and the dropping of additional charges.
The girls' mother, Jenna Brians, testified that her estranged husband texted her about the twins 'going to Heaven.'
Brians’ estranged wife, Jenna, testified during a 2021 preliminary hearing that they exchanged text messages after he took the twins and she attempted to find them. “The girls are going to Heaven and I’m going to Hell to wait for you,” he wrote in one message, per NBC 7.
Meanwhile, Brians wrote on Facebook, “Tonight, I’m sending my babies to Heaven.”
He also called her on FaceTime so she could say goodbye to their daughters.
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After the truck plummeted into the Pacific Ocean, an officer saved the girls.
After Jenna called 911, authorities located Brians and followed his truck before witnessing him drive it off the cliff in San Diego. Officer Jonathan Wiese rescued the twins from the water.
“He had both girls. He was holding them and trying to tread water, but they were all going under,” Wiese, told NBC 7. “One was awake and crying, the other one was pretty lifeless.”
Aubrey and Hailey are 'thriving' today.
At the September 20 sentencing, Aubrey and Hailey’s mother said her daughters were “doing very well” and “thriving,” CBS 8 reported.
“I’m thankful that Robert is taking responsibility for his wrongs and is ready to serve his time,” Jenna said. “This has been a missing step towards healing for all of us.”
In a statement before sentencing, Brians thanked officers and first responders for rescuing the children, saying, “I love my babies and I’m sorry.”
