Mother was following ritual when she stabbed 2 sons to death, DA says

BROCKTON, Mass. — Officials with the Plymouth County District Attorney's Office say a Brockton, Massachusetts, mother was following a ritual when she stabbed her two sons to death Monday.

Attorneys in a Tuesday court hearing for Latarsha Sanders, 43, said she told police she killed her 5- and 8-year-old boys in a ritual incident. It is not clear what the ritual was.

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According to prosecutors, the 8-year-old boy was stabbed 50 times. Police say Sanders stabbed her two sons before putting them in separate beds and covering them with sheets.

Court documents show police asked her why she stabbed her sons, and she responded, “It was because of the voodoo stuff.”

She allegedly told police she mopped up the floor and put the knife in the kitchen sink.

According to court records, Sanders didn't mention her sons to police or EMS when she was taken from the home in an ambulance.

When asked for details about the alleged ritual she was following, officials with the district attorney’s office simply said they are still looking into it, but she had supposedly mentioned rituals to her family in the past.

Investigators said Monday that the killings took place within the past few days and they are trying to figure out a motive.

Sanders was ordered held without bail after her arraignment on the two charges of murder.

Cox Media Group