Mother arrested after 3 young children found dead in East L.A. home
A 28-year-old woman has been arrested on murder charges in the deaths of her three biological children at a home in East Los Angeles, authorities announced Tuesday morning.
The L.A. County Sheriff's Department reports that Sandra Chico is being held on suspicion of murder in the deaths of her two sons and a daughter, all age 3 and under, CBS Los Angeles reports.
The children were found inside a bedroom in their East Los Angeles home around 12:45 p.m. on Monday after a family member called for help, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff's Lt. Chuck Calderaro. They were not breathing and efforts to revive them were not successful.
Chico is being held on $2 million bail. Her first court hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.
Authorities said there was no history of calls to the home.
Supervisor Hilda Solis, whose district includes East L.A., said in a statement that she was "devastated" to hear of the deaths.
"It is a horrifying situation and my office is working with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and Department of Children and Family Services to launch a full investigation into the brutal murder of these three innocent children," the statement said. "My office is also leveraging County resources to provide counseling and support for the family and neighboring residents."
Calderaro earlier said it was not immediately clear what caused the deaths and autopsies will be conducted. There were "no obvious signs" of how they died, he said.
Preliminary information revealed no prior reports of abuse or child neglect at the home, the sheriff's department said.
"It is very heartbreaking, it is for everybody in the neighborhood," neighbor Rosalinda told CBS Los Angeles. "We all have to go through this, really feeling bad for the kids especially, they were babies."
Their deaths come after a mother was arrested in the deaths of her three children in April in Los Angeles.