Mother 'killed her two toddlers aged 1 and 2 by putting them in an oven and turning it on'

A 24-year-old mother in Georgia is accused of killing her two youngest children by placing them in an oven and turning it on. Lamora Williams' two other children were not harmed in the incident.

According to an arrest warrant, Williams placed one-year-old Ja'Karter Williams and two-year-old Ke'Younte Penn in the oven sometime between midnight Thursday (12 October) and 11pm Friday (13 October). The two boys suffered burn marks on their bodies "possibly from the stove," Atlanta police said.

Williams called police on Friday night (13 October) and said her children were dead. When authorities arrived, they found the bodies of the two toddlers. A third child, three-year-old Jameel Penn Jr, was found unharmed, WFAA reported.

Williams' oldest child, a six-year-old girl, was with family at the time and was also unharmed, police said.

The father of the three boys, Jameel Penn, told reporters that Williams called him over video chat to tell him that his children were dead. He said he called authorities immediately after he saw his sons on the floor.

"After I seen what I seen, you know, I called the police," Penn told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC).

During a vigil for his sons on Saturday (14 October), with his three-year-old in his arms, Penn said that he had "no soul no more".

Friends and family told the ACJ that Williams suffered from undiagnosed mental health issues which were compounded by her father's death and by having four young children with little outside help.

Williams' sister, Tabitha Hollingsworth, said she was at risk and should be placed on suicide watch. Family members reportedly tried to visit her on Sunday (15 October) but were not allowed to see her.

Williams was charged with two counts of murder and cruelty to children in the first degree. According to WFAA, she waived her first court appearance on Monday (16 October) and was denied bond.