Court hears Edmonton mom told family she had thoughts about killing her kids

EDMONTON – Court has heard that an Edmonton mother told family she had thoughts about killing her two children before she drowned the youngest in a bathtub.

A hearing is underway to determine if Nerlin Sarmiento should be found not criminally responsible for the death of the seven-year-old boy, Omar Jajoy.

Sarmiento, who is 32, admits she killed her son in February at the family’s apartment.

But she has pleaded not guilty to a charge of first-degree murder, claiming she was suffering from a mental illness at the time.

Court has heard Sarmiento had been seeing a doctor and was receiving medication for depression and possible bipolar disorder for about two years.

A year before the drowning she also choked her nine-year-old daughter, but stopped when the girl asked her what she was doing.