Wellesley community mourning the loss of Ella and Kai

WELLESLEY, Mass. — A former babysitter for two children in Wellesley who were found dead over the weekend says her heart is broken, as she’ll never get to see them grow up.

6-year-old Ella and 7-year-old Kai were found dead in their home in Wellesley after their mother 49-year-old Janette MacAusland allegedly confessed to killing them.

“It really is just kind of a complete and utter blindside,” Cale Darrah told Boston 25.

Darrah was on the on-call babysitter for more than a year, and she said she never once got the impression there was any trouble at the home.

“Happy kids that didn’t seem like they wanted for anything or that they had anything other than a perfectly happy and healthy loving household,” she said.

Darrah lived on the same street, and it was easy for her to answer a last-minute call to babysit Ella and Kai.

She remembers Ella as being a “girls’ girl” who was wise beyond her years.

“She was very outgoing, she also compared to other kids her age that I’ve been with, was almost mature in a way that was surprising to me. She was like, you know, never really had a problem with the word ‘no’ if I had to use it, was really great at sharing,” she said.

Although Kai took a bit longer to open, he was sweet just as his sister.

“He was also incredibly sweet just like his sister. he liked to read a lot, we would do a lot of reading especially books about trucks and planes and cars,” she said.

The tragedy has shaken the Wellesley community as a whole, to its core.

“I think similar to most my reaction was how does that happen in Wellesley?” resident David Krol said.

So many are struggling with the heaviness of it all, wondering what could drive a mother to do this.

“It’s hard being a parent of course, but you would do anything for your children so to hear of someone harming their children, taking their lives that’s devastating,” a resident said.

In a statement, the Schofield School wrote:

“Today was an emotional day for our entire district as we grieved the loss of two of our young students. By all accounts, Kai and Ella were shining lights, with close connections to children and adults that extended well beyond the Schofield Elementary School.”

—  Superintendent David Lussier

“These kids were in schools here. They had friends, family members of these students knew these families so it’s very difficult particularly for young children,” said Senior Minister for the Unitarian Universalist Society of Wellesley Hills.

“And I think the best thing that we can do is try and continue to love and support the family and to love and support each other. this type of violence happens way too often and sometimes it really deeply affects a community as it has Wellesley.”

School officials say counseling sessions will continue across the district as the community continues to lean on each other for two lives that were taken too soon.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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