SAN JOSE — Police in San Jose are investigating the apparent murder of two children by their mother who then took her own life.
Neighbors who knew the family are shocked and saddened by the news.
San Jose police were called to an apartment complex in the 5400 block of Dent Avenue around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday. Responding officers found an adult female and two children dead inside one of the apartments.
Maria Flores, who lives two doors away, said the husband made the gruesome discovery.
"He had gone grocery shopping, and when he came back I guess that's when he discovered his wife killed the children, suffocating them, and then hung herself," she said.
Flores says the family, who are from the Philippines, had lived in the complex for about three years. The children, both boys, were were 4 and 7 years old.
The boys, Flores said, were always knocking on her door to play with her 7-year-old son. The boys were part of a group of similar-aged children at the apartment complex.
"The kids were always cheerful as could be, very happy, running" Flores said.
Flores says the boys' mother was often smiling and didn't show any outward signs of depression or other problems. She described the woman as "a good mother" who was always playing with her kids.
It only adds to the alarm and sadness of others at the apartment complex.
"It was very shocking," Flores said. "No one expected that to happen because she looked happy on the outside, but it wasn't like that, I guess, on the inside."
Written by Brian Krans.
