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HOUSTON (AP) — Prosecutors made a minor change to the charges filed against a Houston mother accused of drowning her two children in her home's bathtub by forcibly holding their heads underwater, authorities said Tuesday.
Sheborah Thomas has been charged with two counts of capital murder under 10 years of age for the deaths of her 5-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son, according to the Harris County District Attorney's Office.
The charges had originally been worded as capital murder under six years of age as the prosecutor handling the case had believed both children were under six, said district attorney's office spokesman Jeff McShan.
The 30-year-old Thomas remained jailed Tuesday without bond. She was set to appear in court Wednesday. Court records did not list an attorney for Thomas.
Thomas told police that she drowned her two children on Friday after picking them up from daycare and feeding them, according to a probable cause affidavit read during a court hearing Monday.
Authorities allege Thomas first drowned her daughter in her home's bathtub and then did the same to her son.
Police say investigators are still trying to determine a motive, but it is believed Thomas acted alone. Autopsies have been ordered.
On Sunday, Thomas tried to first bury the bodies next to her house but was not able to dig a deep enough hole, authorities said. She then rolled the bodies underneath a neighbor's house, according to the affidavit.
An acquaintance who was helping Thomas move on Sunday alerted police after Thomas calmly told him that she had killed her two children, according to authorities.
In 2012, Child Protective Services had placed the two children with their maternal grandmother after the girl, then 2 years old, was found wandering the streets with an intoxicated homeless man, according to court documents.
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