LOGANVILLE, Ga. — A Loganville mother will likely spend the rest of her life in prison - but has a chance for parole - in the stabbing deaths of her husband and four children.
In the summer of 2017, a woman believed to be Isabel Martinez called 911 in Gwinnett County and reported the stabbing of her husband and children. Gwinnett police arrived to find her husband and four of five children dead. A fifth child was also stabbed but survived after being rushed to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta for emergency surgery.
Martinez was taken to Gwinnett County jail where prosecutors said she eventually admitted to killing the children - though documents show she previously claimed an unnamed "family friend" had committed the crime and initially pleaded not guilty.
Photos | Gwinnett mom charged with killing family makes first appearance
In the days leading up to the massacre, Martinez said she felt a "devil-like spirit" during a beach trip to Savannah.
She said that while they were at the beach, the waves attempted to take her and her children away and she "just wanted to save them." She said she couldn't explain the spirit, but said she was very frustrated.
The family had recently moved to the area from Chicago.
Martinez was charged with multiple counts of malice murder, one of aggravated assault and another of cruelty to children in the third degree.
She was later sentenced to life with the possibility of parole on five counts of murder, 20 years to serve on an aggravated assault charge and one month to serve on the third-degree child cruelty charge. The sentences are to be served concurrently.
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