Mother accused of poisoning children may face death penalty

A mother accused of poisoning her two children in a Santa Ana motel room in September will be arraigned Friday on two felony counts of special circumstances murder, Orange County prosecutors said.

Marilyn Kay Edge, 42, of Scottsdale, Ariz., lost custody of her two children days before they were found dead in a Hampton Inn room. A judge in Georgia had ordered her turn Jaelen, 13, and Faith, 10, over to their father, who lives in that state.

Instead, prosecutors said, she picked them up in Arizona, where they lived, told them they were going on vacation and drove to California.

Police were led to the bodies by Edge after she drove her car into an electrical box in Costa Mesa. Before getting out of the vehicle, she tried to choke herself with an electrical wire, authorities said at the time.

Edge will be charged with two felony counts of murder with special circumstance enhancements because there were multiple deaths and children were poisoned, prosecutors said.

The charges would make Edge eligible to receive the death penalty, but prosecutors have not yet decided whether to seek that punishment, according to a written statement from the Orange County district attorney’s office.

Edge is being held without bail.

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