A woman who allegedly stabbed her three young daughters to death at their home in an unincorporated area near Carson pleaded not guilty on May 29 to three murder counts.
Prosecutors will decide later whether to seek the death penalty against Carol Coronado, 30, also charged with a count of attempted murder of her mother. Authorities said the woman discovered the girls’ bodies May 20 and found her daughter in the home, covered in blood.
The murder charges include the special circumstance allegation of multiple murders, opening Coronado to a possible death sentence. Prosecutors said they would decide later whether to seek the death penalty against Coronado, who remains jailed without bail.
Coronado was initially hospitalized with self-inflicted stab wounds and then transferred to a jail ward at Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center to be booked.
The girls’ grandmother discovered the bodies of Sophia, 2, Yazmine, 16 months, and Xenia, 2 months, shortly after 5 p.m. on May 20 at the home in the 1000 block of West 223rd Street. The woman ran out of the house screaming and alerted the father, who was outside working on a car, then called 911, officials said.
A neighbor said Coronado was covered in blood and naked under a blanket when Sheriff’s deputies led her from the home.
Investigators said several knives were discovered at the scene.
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.
“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.”
Sheriff’s 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.
