Accused York County mom blames “darkness” for toddler’s death

Isabel Rose Godfrey died at the hands of her mother Wednesday, according to police

(Undated) – Regina Louise Lester — naked and hugging a tree in her Jackson Township front yard Wednesday evening — told a neighbor she did not mean to kill her three-year-old daughter Isabel but that “I had to get the darkness out of her,” according to charging documents.

During her arraignment Thursday morning at York Hospital, Lester, 30, again referenced “the darkness” when speaking to Senior Judge Richard E. Martin II.

Martin, who denied Lester bail, wrote in a court document that she “stated we need to protect everyone from her and the darkness. … said she wants to die and does not want an attorney … said she understands everything and life was good until the darkness came.”

Lester, of Chesapeake Estates mobile home park, remains at the hospital, but will be transferred to York County Prison at some point, according to the York County Sheriff’s Office. In addition to a charge of criminal homicide, she also faces charges of endangering the welfare of children and terroristic threats.

Northern York County Regional Police responded to Lester’s home Wednesday just after 6 p.m. for a report of an unresponsive child, later identified as her daughter, Isabel Rose Godfrey.

Once there, they found the mother of three being restrained by a neighborhood resident and her 3-year-old daughter on the floor of the home, documents state.

Isabel’s death shook neighbors, some of whom said they knew Lester to be friendly and that she cared for her children.

“I just can’t believe a little child like that is dead,” Delight Ness said Thursday morning. “I think I’ve been shaking ever since it happened.”

“I need to kill your kids”

Police said they were originally contacted by a woman named Jessica Colon who wanted to report an unresponsive child at Chesapeake Estates.

When officers responded, they found a resident, Andrew Day, who said he was at his home when a frantic young boy came to his door, banging on it.

The boy told Day his mom was trying to kill his 3-year-old sister, documents state.

Day ran to Lester’s property and found her without any clothes, hugging a tree. As Day ran past her, she said to him, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do it. You understand I had to get the darkness out of her. I’m sorry.”

Day ran into Lester’s trailer and found Isabel unresponsive on the floor of the living area.

Colon, who remained on her phone with York County 911, attempted CPR on Isabel.

As Colon and Day were with Isabel, Lester ran to a neighbor’s home and began to bang on their door, saying, “I need to kill your kids,” documents state.

The resident was able to grab Lester and hold her until police arrived.

Isabel was taken to York Hospital and pronounced dead there later.

They heard a scream

As Carlton Ness sat on his couch watching TV on Wednesday evening, his wife, Delight Ness was sitting nearby, playing a game on her Kindle.

They heard Lester scream, and knew it was her, because they had heard her raise her voice many times before.

Looking outside, Ness said he saw emergency vehicles arriving, focusing on Lester’s trailer.

“I believe all of Northern Regional was out here,” Ness said.

Across the street, he saw a pink blanket and what looked like a person underneath it. Knowing that police said the 3-year-old girl was found inside the home, Ness said he believes Lester was under the pink blanket.

“I knew there had to be something under that blanket,” he said. “The police car was sitting almost right in front of it. The ambulance company came, got a stretcher.”

He believes they then loaded Lester into the ambulance and took her away.

Delight Ness glanced at pictures of her family that hang on her walls.

“We have a 4-year-old great-grandson. If something happened to him, I don’t know what I would do. I know I wouldn’t make it,” she said. “You just can’t get over what makes a person do something like this,”