Deputies with the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office responded to a domestic disturbance Friday evening at a home in the city of Rockmart, roughly 40 miles from Atlanta, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.
Deputies and firefighters entered the home to rescue the occupants and extinguished the fire, police said.
Paulding County detectives and fire investigators, agents with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and investigators from the state fire marshal’s office were working at the scene, the news release stated.
Seven children were found inside the home, two of whom were pronounced dead, the release said.
“Two juveniles were pronounced deceased on scene: a 3-year-old with multiple apparent stab wounds and 9-month-old. Three additional juveniles, ages 5, 9, and 11 were transported to local hospitals. The remaining two juveniles, ages 14 and 16 did not appear to have injuries,” the sheriff’s office said.
The 5-year-old later died from their injuries, the news release said, and the 9-year-old was in critical but stable condition.
A 40-year-old woman, who the sheriff’s office said is the children’s mother, was at the property and taken into custody. the sheriff’s office said. She is being held at the Paulding County Detention Center without bond on two counts of malice murder, it added.
The sheriff’s office said it would not yet identify the victims because they are juveniles.
