Arizona Mother Arrested After 2 Children Found Dead Inside Santa Ana Hotel Room
SANTA ANA (CBSLA.com) — Santa Ana detectives have arrested the mother of two children found dead in a hotel room Saturday.
Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said the children's bodies were found about 9 a.m. inside the Hampton Inn & Suites in the 2700 block of Hotel Terrace.
2 Children Found Dead At Hampton Inn In Santa Ana
The 42-year-old Phoenix woman crashed her car in Costa Mesa in an apparent suicide attempt.
"Apparently she had a propane tank inside her car, she drove her vehicle at a high rate of speed," said Bertagna.
The woman behind the wheel reportedly attempted to crash the car into an electrical box, but hit the surrounding concrete pylons instead. Police said she then refused to get out of the vehicle.
"She had some type of device around her neck" and was trying to choke herself, according to Bertagna. Costa Mesa police then smashed the car window and extricated the woman from the car.
Investigators said the woman made specific reference to the crime at the Hampton Inn earlier in the day.
Santa Ana police found the bodies of the woman's two children in a third floor hotel room.
The woman was driving a car with Georgia license plates and a decal from a Georgia car dealership on the trunk. It is unclear why she and her children were in Southern California.
Detectives interviewed the mother after she was treated and released from the hospital and booked her on suspicion of murder.
The identity of the woman and her children, as well as their ages and cause of death, are being withheld.
