The Latest: Agency had previously taken away kids from mom

HOUSTON – The Latest on a Houston woman charged with killing two of her children: (all times local):

5:30 p.m.

Two children who police allege were drowned by their mother had been temporarily taken away from her by Texas child welfare officials in 2012 after one of them had been found wandering the streets with an intoxicated homeless man.

According to court documents, Child Protective Services placed Sheborah Latrice Thomas’ children with their maternal grandmother after Thomas’ daughter was found with the man.

In court filings, CPS officials said Thomas and her children had been homeless in 2012 and Thomas had a history of drug use. The children were returned to their mother’s custody the following year.

Thomas, 30, remained jailed Monday after being charged with capital murder.

According to an affidavit, Thomas drowned her 7-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter in a bathtub at her home by forcibly holding their heads underwater.

___

1:50 p.m.

Authorities say a Houston mother charged with capital murder of her two children drowned them in her home’s bathtub by forcibly holding their heads underwater.

Details of the children’s deaths were made public Monday in a probable cause affidavit read in court.

According to the affidavit, 30-year-old Sheborah Latrice Thomas picked up her two children from daycare on Friday, fed them and then prepared a bath for them.

Authorities say Thomas first called her 5-year-old daughter into the bathroom and held her head under the surface until she died. She placed the girl’s body in a bedroom and then called her 7-year-old son into the bathroom, according to the affidavit.

When Thomas tried to force the boy’s head underwater he began to struggle, but she continued to hold him down until he died, according to the affidavit.

Thomas was not in court for the reading of the affidavit.

___

9:55 a.m.

Houston police say a woman accused of killing two of her children told investigators that she drowned them and put their bodies in a trash can before placing them under a neighbour’s house.

Police said Monday that 30-year-old Sheborah Latrice Thomas told investigators she drowned the boy and girl in a bathtub Friday, wrapped them in sheets and put their bodies in a trash can near her house. She then tried to dig a hole but couldn’t make it deep enough, so she moved the bodies of her 7-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter under a neighbour’s house.

Thomas is charged with capital murder of a person under age 6 and is being held without bond.

Investigators are trying to determine a motive for the slayings. The names of the victims were not immediately released, and autopsies were pending.

Houston police say Thomas also has a 12-year-old son, but he was with his father.

___

6:55 a.m.

Authorities say a Houston mother who calmly told an acquaintance that she drowned her two children in a bathtub is being held without bond in the deaths.

Harris County criminal court records show 30-year-old Sheborah Thomas was jailed Monday on a charge of capital murder of a person under age 6.

Thomas was arrested Sunday after the bodies of her 7-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter were found under a neighbour’s house. Authorities have not yet confirmed a cause of death but said an acquaintance of the woman told police that Thomas said she had drowned the children. Autopsies were ordered.

Houston police spokesman Kese (KEES) Smith says investigators have not determined a motive. Smith says all indications are that Thomas acted alone.

Online records do not list an attorney to speak for the mother.

___

6:10 a.m.

Authorities say a Houston mother who matter-of-factly told an acquaintance that she had drowned her two children in a bathtub has been charged in their deaths.

Houston police spokesman Kese Smith told The Associated Press that 30-year-old Sheborah Thomas was charged Sunday with capital murder.

Smith says “all indications are she is the one who acted alone” in the killing of her 7-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter, whose bodies were found under a neighbour’s house Sunday.

He says the mother told an acquaintance that she had killed the children.

Smith says Thomas was so matter-of-fact about it that he thought she was joking.

Smith says investigators are interviewing the mother and have not determined a motive.