Whoa.

At Lisa Snyder’s formal arraignment on Thursday in front of Berks County Judge Paul Yatron, prosecutors filed five aggravating factors, which elevated this to a death penalty case.

37-year-old Lisa is charged in the September 23, 2019 deaths of her children, eight-year-old Conner and 4-year-old Brinley Snyder. She called 911 on that day, saying she had found her two children hanging in the basement of her Albany Township, Pennsylvania home and insinuating that Conner had committed murder-suicide with his younger sister because, Lisa claimed, the boy was bullied at school.

Investigators unearthed a plethora of evidence to the contrary, and Lisa was arrested in December and charged with first-degree murder.

The aggravated factors cited by Chief Deputy District Attorney Margaret McCallum, which elevate Lisa’s case to one of capital murder, include:

• Multiple victims
• Victim(s) under the age of 12
• Murders were committed in the perpetration of another felony

District Attorney John T. Adams said, “The decision to seek the death penalty was not made lightly, but we decided there was overwhelming evidence of the aggravating factors.”

Lisa, who is also charged with third-degree murder, tampering with evidence, endangering the welfare of children, animal cruelty, and sexual intercourse with a dog, pleaded not guilty at her arraignment yesterday. She will appear next in court for a status conference on June 29, 2020

Click here for my previous and ongoing coverage of Conner and Brinley’s case.

Sources: The Morning Call, The Mercury