Mum stabs sons 50 times during ‘juju’ ritual

A woman has been charged with stabbing two of her children to death in their Massachusetts home in what prosecutors have called a “ritual incident.”

At her arraignment Tuesday, prosecutors said a boy was stabbed as many as 50 times.

According to court documents, family members told investigators that 43-year old Latarsha Sanders had practiced voodoo; though the Defence Attorney did not confirm the deaths were voodoo related.

Local police say that Sanders acted alone when she stabbed her five-year-old son and eight-year-old son multiple times at some point over the weekend, a crime officials have called “gruesome, disturbing and heartbreaking.”

The boys’ bodies were discovered in their Brockton apartment on Monday after Sanders asked a neighbour to call 911 because she was having a medical issue.

When authorities arrived, the neighbour told police that there were children in the apartment, so they checked and discovered them.

Lason’s body was reportedly found beneath a blanket with a white bandage on his neck, and Edson Brito was found in another room with massive injuries.

Authorities identified the two boys on Tuesday as brothers Edson “Marlon” Brito, 8, and Lason Brito, 5. The boys were last seen by their grandmother on Saturday, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors say Sanders has a third child who is safe.

Sanders is accused of stabbing the eight-year-old 50 times with a kitchen knife as part of a “ritual incident,” and then attacking her five-year-old when she concluded the first child’s death hadn’t completed the ritual.

“She said she had stabbed him because she had ‘failed’ in the ritual with Marlon,” assistant Plymouth District Attorney Jessica Kenny told a judge during Sanders’ arraignment on murder charges in Brockton Tuesday.

“She responded to police that she felt bad about what she had done.”

Sanders then allegedly placed the boys’ bodies in beds, mopped up blood on the kitchen floor and left the knife lying in the sink, according to a statement issued by the District Attorney’s office.

She never sought medical attention for the boys.

“We believe, based upon her comments, that she was involved in some sort of rituals that she believed in,” Plymouth District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz told reporters outside the courtroom.

During a series of interviews, Sanders reportedly gave several explanations for the deaths, including that she was motivated by “voodoo stuff” and that her 16-year-old daughter “wanted a little blood,” the paper reports.

Cruz told reporters investigators aren’t sure what prompted the attack and there was no clear evidence it was motivated by religious beliefs or as a part of a voodoo ritual.

Sanders was taken away in an ambulance, according to a neighbour.

Sanders pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder on Tuesday. She was ordered held without bail.

The case recalls a child abuse incident in which a five-year-old girl was burned during a voodoo ritual in nearby East Bridgewater last week.

Both cases are being handled by the Plymouth County District Attorney.