Kenosha, Wis, mother accused of killing 2 children to appears in court, bond set at $5 million

KENOSHA, Wis. (WLS) -- A Kenosha, Wis. mother accused of killing her two young children before trying to take her own life appeared in bond court Monday, where disturbing new details of the murders emerged.

Bond was set at $5 million for Lucia Hernandez, 34, who appeared in court bandaged from her self-inflicted injuries after allegedly trying to kill herself following the murders of her two children.

"Her daughter looked up and said, 'I love you mommy,' before falling asleep," said Jason Zapf, Kenosha County Asst. District Attorney.

Appearing in a Kenosha County Court for the first time Monday, Hernandez sat before a judge as she listened to prosecutors outline the horrific way in which, by her own admission, she decided to kill herself and her children, 1-year-old Javier and 3-year-old Alicia.

"She took her daughter and forced her to take one bottle of liquid Motrin followed by a bottle of liquid Tylenol," Zapf said. "She then took her son and gave him a quarter of bottle of liquid Tylenol. She then tried to give him liquid Motrin but he wouldn't take it, so she opened another bottle of Tylenol and forced him to take that."

The decision to kill the children was made Friday following an argument with the children's father. Prosecutors say she withdrew her savings from the bank and sent them to their family in Mexico, mailed a package with jewelry to her sister and went to Walgreen's to buy the cold medicine she would later use to drug the children.

After ensuring the children were asleep, prosecutors say Hernandez used plastic bags and a pillow to suffocate them. She then tried and failed to kill herself. The children's father found them when he got home from work early Saturday morning. All three were lying in bed together. The children were already dead and Hernandez was in a pool of blood, but still conscious.

"Upon seeing his children, he asked the defendant what she had done," Zapf said. "She told him she was, 'stupid,' and said now they wouldn't 'bother him' and 'he would be alone.'"

The children's father was not in court Monday, but Hernandez's siblings were. Her tearful sister said in Spanish, "The pain is too great. I can't. I can't judge. They were our children. She is my sister. I don't know what to say."

In addition to her bond, Hernandez was ordered to have no contact with family members.

Hernandez will return to court Thursday. Her family is now trying to raise money to pay for the children's funerals.