Houston mum, Sheborah Thomas, charged with murder of her two children after telling neighbour she drowned them in a bathtub
Houston mother charged with drowning death her two children after confessig to neighbor she drowned them in a bathtub
Sheborah Thomas, 30, is accused of drowning two of her children, Kayana, 5 and Oraylan Thomas, 7,on Friday
Thomas picked the kids from daycare ran a bath and drowned one at the other, “by forcing by their heads under the water until they stopped moving”
She then wrapped the bodies in plastic bags and placed them in a neighbor’s trash can
Neighbor turned her in to the cops, court remanded her without bond, faces charges of capital murder of a person under 6
In an inexplicable moment of candour, a Houston woman casually admitted to drowning her two minor children in a bathtub and stashing their bodies beneath a nearby home, Friday
Sheborah Thomas, told a man helping her pack her belongings Sunday that she had killed the boy and girl he and other neighbors often saw playing in the park, investigators said.
Thomas, 30, is alleged to have drowned her son, Orayln (Ray Ray) Thomas, 7, and daughter, Kahana Thomas, 5.
Sheborah Thomas and the children she killed, Orayln, 7,daughter, Kahana, 5. The 12-year-old was with the father when their mother killed his siblings
The is alleged to have also said she tried burying her children in the backyard, but later hid their bodies under a neighbor’s home instead.
“She was so matter of fact about it, he didn’t think she was serious. He thought she was joking,” Houston police spokesman Kese Smith said. “He continued to help her pack.”
The neighbor then drove Thomas to the nearest police precinct after realizing the woman never faltered in her answer, repeatedly saying she killed two of her three children.
Her 12-year-old son was with his father at the time, according to Houston police.
Thomas faces charges of capital murder of a person under 6 after police announced they found the two children’s bodies exactly where she had said they could find them.
Distraught, the children’s aunt Kita Thomas-Smith, weeps for her nephew and niece
Thomas is said to have fed Orayln and Kahana after picking them up from daycare on Friday. According to a probable cause affidavit read in court Monday, she then drew a bath, calling her daughter into the bathroom: “She grabbed (the daughter) by the head and forced her underneath the water until she stopped moving,” the affidavit read. “After she wasn’t moving and she wasn’t breathing, she took the body out of the water and placed her in the bedroom.”
She is quoted as stating that she then called for her son to come into the bathroom. She struggled with her own son but “continued to force his head underneath the water until he stopped struggling, he stopped moving.”
The investigators said she left them under a neighbor’s house the following day.
Sheborah Thomas wass remanded without bond, Monday, as investigators tried to determine a possible motive.
Her children were “just innocent, growing kids,” she said of her nephew and neice.
“This is the type of stuff that you see on TV,” said Kita Thomas-Smith. “To actually feel it yourself is devastating.”
A daycare worker last saw Orayln and Kahana on Friday during a school talent show.
“They told the bus driver, we’ll see you Monday,” Sophia Faultry said. “It’s just hurtful. Those children didn’t deserve that.”
Although, Thomas and her children had only lived in thearea for a few months but during that time, police had been called to the address a number of times, but for “nothing major.”
It was unclear if Thomas has a history of mental health problems. However, she had several prior convictions for misdemeanors, including theft and the failure to identify one’s self to an officer.
Kahana, 5 and her brother Orayln Thomas, 7, were drowned in a bathtub, Friday by their mom Sheborah Thomas
Cops speak to the shocked neighbors and relatives
She had also been visited by child welfare officials with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Service. Spokeswoman Tejal Patel would not disclose the nature of those visits.
She added, though, that DFPS officials will conduct a “top to bottom review” of the family’s history.
Thomas and her husband,Danny Ray Thomas, filed for divorce in 2012, but it was never finalized.Thomas is currently serving a three-year sentence for possession of a controlled substance.
This case is remniscent of another Houston mother, Andrea Yates, who drowned her five children in a bathtub more than 15 years ago. A case which sparked a national debate on postpartum depression and psychosis. Yates was convicted of the murders, a year later in 2002. Ultimately the verdict was overturned and a retrial found her not guilty by reason of insanity. She is being treated at a state mental institution in Kerrville.
Officers of Houston PD search through the trash looking for clues
Kita Thomas-Smith, whose brother married Sheborah shortly before the birth of the 7-year-old, said she had never seen the children’s mother exhibited signs of mental illness.
“This is the type of stuff that you see on TV,” said Kita Thomas-Smith, the children’s aunt. “To actually feel it yourself is devastating. It’s hurtful. It’s ridiculous. They were just innocent, growing kids.”
“There’s no reason you’d do this to your kids,” she said, adding Thomas could have taken them to a police station or to Child Protective Services if she didn’t want them.
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