Houston mother Sheborah Thomas was taken into police custody on Sunday for the murder of her 7-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter. Thomas reportedly drowned her children in their bathtub at home, and was taken to the police station by a neighbor after she “calmly” shared this information with him.
At first, the man thought she was joking, and began to help her pack because she claimed she needed to move out of her house “right away,” according to the Associated Press. It was not until Thomas once again told him that she had killed her children that the man realized she was serious and that he needed to report her and her actions to the authorities.
The Washington Post reports that Thomas committed the murders on Friday, right after the children performed in a talent show at their day care center. It was not until two days later that she was brought to the police and the bodies were found. Thomas had hidden their bodies under the house of a next-door neighbor.
Sheborah’s sister-in-law, Kita Thomas-Smith, has started a GoFundMe campaign has been started in honor of the children, Orayln and Kahana. In an interview, Thomas-Smith was understandably emotional and questioned why and how her sister-in-law could commit such an act.
Local Houston police had been to Thomas’s house in the past, but the details of her criminal record remain unclear. Similarly, child services had been in touch with the family, but their office “could not disclose the nature of those visits” when asked about the news of the Thomas children’s deaths, according to the AP.
Thomas appeared in court on Monday.