A Winnetka woman was charged Monday with murder in connection with the deaths of her twin 3-year-old sons.
Jestice James, 22, is facing two counts each of murder and child abuse under circumstances or conditions likely to cause great bodily injury or death, according to the criminal complaint.
The boys were identified in the complaint as Josiah J. and Jestine J.
The boys’ mother is set to be arraigned Tuesday in a Van Nuys courtroom.
“The evidence indicates fentanyl was involved in this case,” Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Hatami told City News Service.
It will be up to the County of Los Angeles Medical Examiner to determine what caused the boys’ deaths.
Police and paramedics responded at about 11:20 a.m. last Thursday to a home in the 20000 block of Sherman Way, where Jestice James found her 3-year-old twin boys “unresponsive,” according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
The boys were both taken to a hospital, where Josiah was pronounced dead early Thursday afternoon.
On Monday, the LAPD said the second twin had died over the weekend.
“Preliminary investigation revealed that the children had ingested, or been exposed to, an unknown substance,” according to an LAPD statement released last Friday. “The mother and other residents of the home were transported to the LAPD Topanga Community Police Station for questioning.”
The boys’ mother was arrested last Thursday night by the LAPD’s Juvenile Division and has remained behind bars since then, according to jail records.
Police said the other residents of the home are not being investigated any further.
A witness told KTLA5 that the boys’ parents were hysterical as a neighbor attempted to perform CPR on the children before paramedics arrived.
“I came in, there’s a kid sitting on the table and I started giving him CPR, and my friend says, `Oh my God, there’s another one,”’ neighbor Chris Burko told the station.