Police: Knife-wielding Florida mom charged in deaths of two children

A Florida mother who was arrested Friday outside of her home with a knife in hand will face murder charges for the deaths of her two children. She will be facing a separate charge for the attempted murder of her 5-month-old baby, police stated Saturday.

The 33-year-old mother of Palm Bay, Fla., Jessica Lacey McCarty, was being held at the Brevard County Detention Center without bond. Police said she is set to face a judge to be formally charged in the next 24 hours, according to Reuters.

Police have yet to determine how the two children–ages six and seven–were killed. Autopsies will be performed on Sunday.

Lt. Mario Augello of the Palm Bay Police Criminal Investigations Division said in a statement that police are still trying to determine the “sequence of events” and why they happened. Augello added that the investigation is still “very active” and that their priority is to gain the right knowledge so that they ensure “justice in the deaths and injuries of these two innocent children.”

Police stated in a news release Saturday that officers went to McCarty’s home after receiving an emergency phone call. A woman was claiming to have killed her children.

When the police appeared on the scene, McCarty was standing in the front yard with a butcher knife in her hand. She only suffered minor injuries.

The release also stated that she was not willing to comply with the police and drop the knife. The officers had to use “less lethal” beanbag rounds to get her to comply.

When the officers stepped inside the home, all three children were unresponsive. Both Philip, 6, and Laci, 7, were pronounced dead at a hospital nearby. Police said the baby, Christopher, had life-threatening injuries and remained in critical condition at a hospital in Orlando, according to the Huffington Post.

A spokeswoman for the Palm Bay police Yvonne Martinez would not give any further information on the kids’ injuries, but she said that they were not stabbed or shot Friday, according to NBC News. Police had originally reported a suspected stabbing.

 

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