Mother to Stand Trial for Murders of 2 Sons
A Monterey Park woman was ordered Friday to stand trial on two first-degree murder charges in the stabbing deaths of her two young sons. She reportedly was distraught over financial problems and a failed romance with the father of her younger son.
Diana Covarrubias, 25, sobbed quietly as Alhambra Municipal Court Judge Michael A. Kanner ordered a Dec. 9 arraignment. If convicted, she could face the death penalty or life imprisonment without parole, said Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard Taklender.
At the preliminary hearing, Covarrubias’ brother, Jesse, described finding his sister in bed Sept. 22 with the bodies of her sons Steven Killeen, 6, and Jeffrey Hernandez, 2. She also had stabbed herself and taken a large quantity of pain killers, he said. She is being held without bail in the Sybil Brand Institute for Women.
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