27-year-old Greek-Canadian woman killed her two young sons so they could “all be united in Heaven” with her 72-year-old husband who died of cancer

Describing what happened on the fateful night of December 2023, the 27-year-old told the court that she held her hands over the mouths and noses of 4-year-old Dimitris and 5-year-old Giannis while singing “You Are My Sunshine” to them, before jumping off the balcony of their Toronto apartment in the hopes of killing herself.

Police found the bodies of the two children in front of a television set playing children’s songs, with their funeral clothes next to them, along with a photo of their father, 72-year-old Kostas Kollias, and a cross. The 27-year-old survived the fall, but was left paralyzed from the waist down.

27-year-old Greek-Canadian woman killed her two young sons so they could “all be united in Heaven” with her 72-year-old husband who died of cancer
Vanessa Kollias, 27, told a court that she held her hands over the mouths and noses of 4-year-old Dimitris and 5-year-old Giannis while singing “You Are My Sunshine” to them

Although she was initially charged with first-degree murder, the charges were downgraded to second-degree murder due to the grief the court said she was experiencing over her husband’s death.

Kollias reportedly told a psychiatrist that she was “completely alone and unable to conceive of continuing life without (her husband) and wanted them all to be reunited in Heaven.”

“A part of me will always wonder why I never said I needed help,” Kollias said in court, tearfully saying of her children, “I love you more than anything. Thank you for showing me what true love is. You will forever be my favorite part. I am so grateful to have become your mom. The hardest thing I will have to do is learn to be here without you.”

The court sentenced the 27-year-old to life in prison without parole for at least 18 years, with her saying she knew what she did was wrong, but hoped "that others would understand that her intention was to save her sons and be with her husband, so they could all be together."

Kollia's 72-year-old husband died on December 1, 2023, and she killed the boys on December 10, claiming she was already exhausted from caring for her husband 24/7 and "watching him slowly deteriorate before her eyes."