A mother was found guilty of fatally stabbing her two young sons as part of a "voodoo" ritual and sentenced to life in prison.
Latarsha Sanders, a Brockton, Massachusetts woman, was convicted on Tuesday by a jury on two counts of first-degree murder for the February 2018 deaths of her 8-year-old son Edson Brito and 5-year-old son La'son Brito.
She was also found guilty of witness tampering.
"These two young boys were innocent babies with their lives ahead of them," Plymouth County District Attorney Tim Cruz said after the sentencing. "This was an emotional and difficult case for all of the family members involved. There were no winners in the courtroom today."
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The jury's four-hour deliberations and guilty verdict concluded the nine-day trial in Plymouth Superior Court.
The judge sentenced Sanders to life in prison without parole Wednesday morning.
Sanders told police at the time of her arrest that she first stabbed her eldest son during a voodoo ritual but "it came out 'wrong,'" assistant Plymouth District Attorney Jessica Kenny said during Sanders' 2018 arraignment.
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After the botched ritual, Sanders attacked her 5-year-old son.
"She said she had stabbed him because she had 'failed' in the ritual with Marlon (Edson)," Kenny said at the 2018 arraignment. "She responded to police that she felt bad about what she had done."
The boys' autopsies found that Edson was stabbed nearly 80 times and La'Son had been stabbed more than 20 times, according to prosecutors.
Sanders cleaned the children, placed them in their beds and mopped up the crime scene, Cruz said in a press release.
The murder weapon – a kitchen knife – was left in the sink, and the boys were found wrapped in bedding.
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