A mother-daughter duo in Philadelphia was accused of murdering their five close relatives, including three children last year, pleaded not guilty, Tuesday, during a court hearing.

Shana Decree, 46, and her daughter Dominique Decree, 20, were slapped with five counts of homicide and one conspiracy charges each.

The bodies were found by Bucks County police at an apartment in Morrisville, Pennsylvania, on Feb. 25, 2019. The victims were Shana’s two children, Naa'Irah Smith, 25, and Damon Decree Jr., 13, Shana’s sister, Jamilla Campbell, 42, and Campbell's 9-year-old twin daughters, Imani and Erika Allen.

Police said four of them were suffocated, while one was strangled. They said the apartment had furniture knocked over, drywall cracked, and glass spread around. The suspects were present in the apartment at the time of the discoveries in unstable conditions. They arrested them shortly after, KYC-TV reported last year.

A family member told police that the duo was “into some type of cult,” at the time of the arrests. They allegedly had been talking about demons being all around them. However, the authorities are yet to reveal a motive for the murders officially.

“I feel like the questions are: Why did this happen? Why did this happen? Why did this happen? It’s the same question I have because it does seem so hard to understand,” ABC News quoted Christopher Rees, Deputy District Attorney, as saying. “It's such an unimaginable crime."

He said the motive could become clearer during the proceedings.

Prosecutors will mull over their death penalties until March 20. They are scheduled to face a trial on June 8.

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