Woman held in slayings of her husband, 2 sons

A woman who reported finding the bodies of her husband and two boys in their Rowland Heights home was arrested on suspicion of their murders, authorities said Thursday.

After an all-day interview with investigators, Manling Williams, 27, was arrested shortly after 11 p.m. Wednesday and held without bail, said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Oscar Butao.

The woman told authorities that she discovered the bodies of her husband, Neal, 27, and their sons Devon, 7, and Ian, 3, when she returned from food shopping shortly after 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, Sheriff’s Sgt. Bill Marsh said.

Investigators found no sign of a break-in, he said.

The husband’s body had “sharp-force trauma injuries,” but the boys did not have any signs of such injuries, Butao said.

A motive for the crime was not immediately determined.

A neighbor said she was getting ready for work when she heard Williams screaming for help and ran across the street to assist her.

Williams told her “my husband’s hurt,’ ” Francine Cerda said.

“I walked up the stairs and I see blood all over the walls and the floor,” she said. “He’s laying in the hallway on his stomach. He was covered with blood. I knew he was dead.”

Williams apparently gave a different account of her activities to Cerda than she did to sheriff’s investigators. Cerda said the woman told her she had gone for a drive late Tuesday night to “cool off her head” and found the bodies when she returned home the next morning.