LOGANVILLE, Ga. (AP) - The Latest on the deaths of a man and four children outside Atlanta (all times local):
7:25 p.m.
Authorities have identified the father and his four children who were fatally stabbed in a home outside Atlanta.
Gwinnett County police Cpl. Michele Pihera identified the victims in a statement Thursday night as 33-year-old Martin Romero, 10-year-old Isabela Martinez, 7-year-old Dacota Romero, 4-year-old Dillan Romero and 2-year-old Axel Romero.
The children’s mother, 33-year-old Isabel Martinez, has been arrested and charged in the slayings.
The children and Martin Romero were found dead early Thursday at a home in Loganville. A 9-year-old girl, identified as Diana Romero, survived the stabbing and remained in serious but stable condition at a hospital, Pihera says.
Police said Martinez has been cooperative with investigators but a motive for the crimes has not yet been released.
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3:35 p.m.
Police in metro Atlanta have filed murder charges against a mother suspected of fatally stabbing four of her children and the children’s father.
The Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office says 33-year-old Isabel Martinez is being held without bond at the county jail. Authorities say Martinez faces five counts of malice murder along with five counts of murder and six counts of aggravated assault.
Police have said all four of the children were younger than 10 years old and were found dead early Thursday at a home in Loganville where the family lived. A girl survived but was seriously injured.
Police said they received a 911 call from a woman who was speaking Spanish and was inside the house. They believe Martinez made that call.
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1 p.m.
Police say a mother suspected of fatally stabbing four of her children and the children’s father was the one who called 911, speaking in Spanish, to report the crimes.
Gwinnett police Cpl. Michele Pihera tells The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the language barrier initially made it difficult to communicate.
Police say all four of the children found dead early Thursday were under the age of 10. Another child, a girl, survived the attack but was seriously injured and hospitalized. The children’s father, in his mid-30s, was also found dead.
Police issued a statement calling the mother a “suspect” in the deaths. No charges have been announced.
Police say early indications are that a knife was used in the attacks in the Loganville area. The community is about 30 miles (48 kilometers) east of Atlanta.
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11:55 a.m.
Police say a young girl who survived an attack that left four of her siblings and her father dead at a Georgia home is still alive.
Police gave the update in a brief statement late Thursday morning, after the bodies of four young children and their father were found inside a home in the Loganville area before dawn Thursday.
Police earlier had issued a statement calling the mother a “suspect” in the deaths, and said the man found dead in the house was believed to be the father of the children.
Gwinnett County police Cpl. Michele Pihera told reporters at the scene that the mother was being interviewed by detectives. No charges have been announced.
Police say early indications are that a knife was used in the attacks.
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10 a.m.
Police say all four children stabbed to death in a home outside Atlanta were under the age of 10.
Police also issued a statement calling the mother a “suspect” in the deaths and said a man found dead in the house was the father.
Gwinnett County police Cpl. Michele Pihera said the five bodies were found inside a home in the Loganville area outside Atlanta early Thursday. Their names haven’t been released.
Pihera told reporters at the scene that the children’s mother was quickly taken into custody and was being interviewed by detectives. No charges have been announced.
Police say early indications are that a knife was used in the attacks.
Police said the child who survived was taken an Atlanta hospital with serious injuries.
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9:25 a.m.
Police say a woman inside the home where four young children and a man were found dead is the one who initially called authorities to the residence outside Atlanta.
Gwinnett County police said the call came in at 4:47 a.m. Thursday, and officers then found the five bodies inside the single-story home in the Loganville area.
Gwinnett County police Cpl. Michele Pihera told reporters at the scene that the children’s mother was “quickly taken into custody.”
Police say early indications are that a knife was used in the attacks. Police said a fifth child was taken to a hospital with serious injuries.
Police said it wasn’t known whether the dead man was the children’s biological father. But police said they believe the family all lived together at the house.
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8:40 a.m.
Police say early indications are that a knife was used to attack four young children and a man found dead in a home outside Atlanta.
Gwinnett County police Cpl. Michele Pihera told reporters at the scene that an adult described as the mother was “quickly taken into custody” after the bodies were found early Thursday morning inside the home in Loganville.
Pihera said the woman was being interviewed by detectives. No charges have been announced.
Police said another child was taken to a hospital with injuries they describe as serious.
Police said a motive wasn’t immediately known.
Photos provided by the police department showed crime scene tape surrounding a single-story home with white paneling in a subdivision in Loganville, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) east of Atlanta.
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7 a.m.
Police in an Atlanta suburb responding to reports of a stabbing say they’ve found several children and an adult dead in a home.
Gwinnett County police said in a brief statement that the bodies were found early Thursday morning.
Police described the crime as horrendous, and said a motive wasn’t immediately known.
The number of children found dead and their ages wasn’t immediately available.
Loganville is about 30 miles (48 kilometers) east of Atlanta.
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