Tasmiyah Whitehead, one of the Georgia twins who admitted killing their mother as teenagers, has been released on parole after serving 12 years following her 2014 guilty plea.
Whitehead, now 33 and known as Tas, was released from Pulaski State Prison on August 5, according to jail records. She had originally faced a 30-year sentence after being charged in connection with the killing of her mother, Jarmecca “Nikki” Whitehead.
Tasmiyah and her twin sister, Jasmiyah, stabbed their mother between 50 and 80 times during a violent confrontation inside the family’s Rockdale County home on January 13, 2010.
The sisters later became known as the “Twisted Twins,” a case that shocked the community and continued to draw attention years after the killing.
Tasmiyah Whitehead has been released from jail on parole just 12 years after pleading guilty to killing her mother with her twin sister.Georgia Department of Corrections
A Plea Deal Reduced the Murder Charge
Tasmiyah’s release followed a plea agreement that reduced the murder charge to voluntary manslaughter, according to WSB-TV.
Under the deal, she received 20 years for voluntary manslaughter, along with five years for possessing a knife during a crime and another five years for making false statements to the government.
She ultimately spent 16 years incarcerated when pretrial detention was included, followed by 12 years after her conviction.
Tasmiyah had been eligible for parole since 2017 but remained behind bars for another nine years before the parole board ultimately granted her release.
Her twin sister, Jasmiyah, accepted the same plea deal but will not be eligible for parole until May 2028.
Their Grandmother Criticized the Sentence
The sentence angered the twins’ grandmother, Lynda Whitehead, who felt that the punishment failed to properly recognize Nikki Whitehead as the victim.
“You offer someone 30 years with parole?” she said during the twins’ 2014 trials, according to WSB-TV. “It is like she is not important, she is the victim, it is like no one is concerned with what happened to her.”
The sisters had only been living with their mother again for about a week before the fatal confrontation. They had previously been sent away because their behavior had reportedly become violent and difficult for their mother to manage.
Tasmiyah Whitehead admitted to investigators that she hit her mother in the head with a pot during the fight, before grabbing a knife from the knife block.Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office
A Fight Turned Deadly
Jasmiyah Whitehead isn’t eligible for parole until May 2028, despite taking the same plea deal as her sister.Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office
The confrontation began after the twins woke up late for school. Their mother reportedly told them they were late and could not simply do whatever they wanted.
The sisters later claimed that Nikki threatened them with a cooking pot before the confrontation escalated into a physical fight.
Tasmiyah admitted that she struck her mother in the head with a pot before taking a knife from a kitchen knife block.
According to Jasmiyah’s account to investigators, their mother bit her during the struggle. Jasmiyah said that as she tried to fight back and get her mother off her, Tasmiyah stabbed Nikki.
The sisters continued attacking their mother before dragging her body into the bathroom and placing her in the bathtub, where they submerged her in water. Police believe Nikki was still alive when her daughters moved her.
The Twins Initially Pretended to Be Victims
After the attack, the sisters went to school. When they returned home, they called police.
Officers discovered Nikki’s body in the bathtub and initially treated the twins as victims who had returned home to find their mother dead.
Investigators later described the scene as “the bloodiest scene I think I’ve ever been to.”
The sisters attempted to conceal their involvement by hiding scratches and bite marks they had suffered during the fight. They reportedly wore gloves inside the house or claimed some of their injuries were self-inflicted as a way of dealing with stress after their mother’s death.
But investigators eventually began to uncover inconsistencies in their story.
Four months after the killing, both sisters were arrested.
A Secret Recording Helped Expose Their Story
Part of the investigation involved placing the sisters together inside a vehicle equipped with a microphone.
Detectives reportedly recorded the twins discussing the lack of evidence against them and the fact that investigators had not found the murder weapon.
The recording helped investigators further unravel the sisters’ account of what had happened.
The twins initially pleaded not guilty to the murder charge before ultimately accepting their respective plea deals in 2014.
Looking back on the case, Tasmiyah expressed regret during the proceedings.
“Just really wish it didn’t happen like that and I wish I could have solved something. I do I wish…sorry…It was just confusion and turmoil and it never stopped,” she said through tears.
More than a decade later, Tasmiyah is now out on parole, while her twin remains incarcerated and is not scheduled to become eligible for parole until 2028.
