Woman stabs 2 children before killing self with butcher knife

WAYNESVILLE, Mo. -- A woman died after officers say she stabbed her two children and then herself.

The two kids, ages 12 and 2, are in stable condition.

The sheriff says Yvonne Holmes used a butcher knife to stab her kids. Her boyfriend stopped her by wresting the knife from her. The sheriff says Holmes then ran outside and stabbed herself to death.

The boyfriend got the children out and called 911. He ran to the neighbors'.

Neighbors say the boyfriend is also the children's father who lives there.

"The oldest girl, I believe she was stabbed in the back, and across the chest, and the little boy was stabbed in the throat a couple times," said neighbor, Jim Minor.

He says he covered them in blankets, looked out the door and saw their mother, Yvonne Holmes headed that way.

"She was standing right there in the yard screaming and had the knife in her hand," says Minor.

He says she started stabbing herself until she died. Investigators are still trying to figure out why.

Police say the two children likely will recover. KSPR reports that the names of the children and boyfriend are not being released.