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There are few clues but a lot of speculation about what led a mother to stab her three daughters in their home earlier this week.Carol Coronado, 30, was recovering at Torrance Memorial Medical Center from self-inflicted, though not life-threatening wounds. She's expected to be arrested and charged with the murders of her three daughters once she's released. An autopsy was scheduled yesterday to figure out whether there was any other cause of death besides the stabbings, but the coroner's office told LAist today that they weren't releasing any information on the case.
Family members and neighbors say that the girls' deaths on Tuesday caught them off-guard. Carol's husband Rudy Coronado told a reporter that she must have been possessed by a demon. His sister Sandra Coronado told The Daily Breeze, "He says that there’s something in her that he didn’t see. Something in her eyes. I don’t know."
Carol called her mother in the morning to tell her that she felt like she was "going crazy," neighbors said. Carol's mother told Sandra to call her. When she did, Carol said she was exhausted, but she planned to take one of her daughters to the doctor that day. Sandra offered to take the other girls and watch them during the appointment.
Neighbors report that when police brought Carol out of her home, she looked dazed. Ashley Madrid told the Los Angeles Times, "She had a zoned-out look and was just looking down. She had dry blood smeared on her face and legs."
Authorities found the bodies of 2-1/2-year-old Sophia, 16-month-old Yazmine and 2-month-old Xenia laid out on a bed after they were stabbed, Lt. Dave Coleman told the Daily Breeze: "The way the injuries occurred, they weren't sleeping. She lined them up on the bed. They were neatly placed on the bed."
Carol Coronado had never been reported to the Department of Children and Family Services. Investigators are looking into whether she might have been on drugs or suffering from postpartum depression. Mental health experts can't comment on the specifics of the case, because there is still so little information. But Phillip Resnick, the director of forensic psychiatry at the University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland, told The Los Angeles Register that it can be difficult for women suffering from postpartum depression or mental health issues to get help: "A woman may be so ashamed she won’t reveal problems to a doctor. They won’t reveal thoughts of killing their children, because they’re fearful a social worker will take their children away."
Carol Coronado served in the Army for a short time over 10 years ago and had to leave because of medical reasons, according to KNX. She was taking online classes while staying home with the kids.
Relatives said that the couple fought about housekeeping. Carol would ask relatives to watch her girls from time-to-time, so she could clean the house and do homework. Sandra Coronado told The Daily Breeze, "My brother wanted the house clean for his girls. He wanted to come home to a home-cooked meal."
LAist writer Jean Trinh contributed to this post.
UPDATE 3:40 p.m.: As expected, Carol Coronado has been charged with the murders of her three daughters. She's scheduled to be taken into the hospital jail ward shortly. What wasn't expected is that she's also been charged with the attempted murder of her mother Julie Piercey, according to The Daily Breeze. Her mother was apparently the first person to discover the murders, and authorities say that Coronado attacked Piercey when her mother confronted her. The mother grabbed the kitchen knife from her mother's hand.
