A Massachusetts town was still reeling after a woman was charged with fatally stabbing her two young sons – and allegedly left their bodies for up to two days in a third-floor apartment.
Latarsha Sanders, 43, of Brockton, is facing two counts of murder and is expected to be arraigned Tuesday in Brockton District Court after the bodies of her two sons, ages 5 and 8, were found Monday when a tipster called police.
Sanders was taken away on a stretcher while kicking and screaming, according to neighbor Vin Lalli, who was outside getting his trash cans when he witnessed the ordeal. Lalli, a grandfather who has lived on the same block for 40 years, said Sanders didn’t appear to work and stayed mostly to her herself inside the Prospect Street apartment building.
“These are kids, you know? Innocent,” Lalli told the Boston Globe. “It’s awful.”
Authorities said Sanders has a third child, who was not harmed. Lalli said he believes Sanders’ older child may have been working at the time of the killings.
“I never see any family members over there,” Lalli told the newspaper. “They don’t really have company. They’re kind of by themselves.”
Neighbor Ernst Blanc told the newspaper that he regularly saw two young children playing in the yard behind his house, frequently throwing a ball, playing tag and riding bikes. He never saw any sign of trouble in the home, he said.
“I never thought that could happen,” Blanc said. “I don’t know why. They were kids.”
Another neighbor, Darcy Ruskiewicz, put a pink teddy bear against a utility pole near Sanders’ residence.
“I heard the news and it just broke my heart,” she told the Boston Globe. “I don’t understand how anyone would do that to children.”
Marzella Scott, who was standing outside Sanders’ apartment with her 5-year-old grandson, said she would occasionally see the children get on a school bus to start their day.
“It’s so sad,” Scott told the newspaper.
Plymouth District Attorney Timothy Cruz told reporters during a news conference Monday that she made statements “that can be construed as admissions” to the alleged killings, according to the Boston Herald.
“We’re all left wondering how, why did this happen?” Cruz said. “All crime scenes are grisly. But these victims were innocent children. This was a gruesome and disturbing and, most of all, a heartbreaking crime.”
Authorities have yet to publicly identify the children. Cruz said Sanders’ comments to police and a possible motive in the killings could be revealed when Sanders appears before a judge Tuesday in Brockton District Court.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Children and Families declined to comment on whether the agency had a history with Sanders, citing privacy concerns.