Mother, Grandmother Charged in Deaths of Two Children

Capital murder charges were filed Thursday against the mother and grandmother of two East Los Angeles children whose badly decomposed bodies were found in their home last weekend.

Martha Israel-Lopez, 35, and her 65-year-old mother, Graciela Israel, are expected to be arraigned on two charges each of murder June 13. If convicted, the women could face the death penalty in the slayings of the two youngsters--Judith, 4, and Victor, 8. Authorities believe a knife was used in the slayings.

Israel-Lopez was involved in a bitter custody battle with her former husband.

Israel-Lopez and her mother, who were arrested shortly after midnight Tuesday by La Palma police, each were also charged with one count of assault on a child causing death, three counts of child abuse and one count of conspiracy in the deaths.

A complaint filed against the two women--who are being held without bail--accuses them of causing the youngsters to “suffer and to be inflicted with unjustifiable physical pain and mental suffering.”