Mom charged after 2 children found dead in Southern California hotel room

CNN

(CNN) — Police charged a mother with murder after the bodies of her two children were found inside a Southern California hotel.

Officers were led to the bodies at the Hampton Inn & Suites in Santa Ana after Marilyn Edge, 42, apparently tried to commit suicide Saturday night by crashing her car at a Home Depot parking lot in a nearby town, authorities said.

When police arrived at the parking lot in Costa Mesa, they found the woman with a cord around her neck. She was trying to strangle herself with it, said police Sgt. Tim Starn.

Edge also had a tank of propane gas inside the Honda Accord, and made comments indicating she hoped the car would ignite, police said.

When the woman was removed from the car after struggling with paramedics, she made a reference to an incident at the Santa Ana Hampton Inn, said Cpl. Anthony Bertagna.

Officers doing a safety check at the hotel found the bodies of the children, a 13-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl. The third-floor room was registered to the woman, authorities said.

It was not clear how long the children had been there, Bertagna said, or how they died.

Her last known address was listed in Scottsdale, Arizona, though the car she was driving had Georgia license plates. Authorities did not know what she was doing in California.

“It’s upsetting to say the least. My goodness, if there’s two children involved, that’s just horrendous to say the least,” Mike Ramey, who was staying at the hotel, told CNN affiliate KABC. “It’s just a heartbreaker. As a parent, it’s just a heartbreaker. It’s unbelievable.”