Crime & Safety

Mom Accused of Killing Her 3 Girls Remains Hospitalized

Carol Coronado was found naked, laying on a bloody bed next to her children, her husband working outside on his car.

A 30-year-old woman was in custody today on suspicion of stabbing her three young daughters to death at their home in an unincorporated area near Torrance while her husband was outside working on a car.

Carol Coronado and the bloodied bodies of her children -- who were 2 years, 16 months and 2 months old -- were found on a bed by their maternal grandmother when she arrived to see her daughter and grandchildren. She ran out of the home and alerted the father, then called 911.

According to a neighbor, Coronado was covered in blood and naked under a blanket when taken from her home in the 1000 block of West 223rd Street by paramedics.

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She remained hospitalized late today in stable condition with multiple self-inflicted knife wounds, according to sheriff's officials.

John Carrion, who said he and his wife were the godparents of the dead children, told reporters at the scene that the family had been preparing to baptize the children.

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"All I ask everybody out there is pray for my babies, please pray for my babies, even though we know they're all in heaven," he said. "Pray for (the children's father) and even pray for that woman because she had a demon inside her that day."

Deputies called to the home around 5:10 p.m. Tuesday were told by family members at the scene that Coronado had killed her daughters, said sheriff's Deputy Crystal Hernandez.

Neighbor Nancy Madrid told the Daily Breeze that the children's grandmother said her daughter had told her by phone earlier in the day that she was going crazy.

Investigators recovered several knives at the scene.

Sheriff's Detective Lt. Dave Coleman said Coronado was briefly in the Army after high school, but her military career was cut short by an injury.

Neighbors said there had been no outward signs of trouble in the home, with one woman saying that Coronado's children appeared well cared for and happy when their mother took them on strolls in the neighborhood.

--City News Service


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