Mother Fatally Stabs Three Children and Injures Another While House Is on Fire, Rockmart, GA

Rockmart, GA (Yorkville Community)- Three children, including a 9-month-old baby, are dead and their mother faces murder charges after she attempted to stab her kids inside a burning home, according to officials in Georgia.

The Paulding County Sheriff’s Office on Sunday said authorities received a call about a domestic disturbance and house fire in the Sunset Mountain Subdivision at 776 Woodwind Drive, Rockmart, GA on Friday at 9:19 p.m. The caller indicated a woman inside the residence was attempting to stab the occupants, according to a news release.

Rockmart, GA is located about 40 miles northeast of Centre.

The sheriff's office and firefighters arrived at the scene, rescued the occupants inside and extinguished the blaze, the sheriff’s office said in the release.

Seven children were located inside the home.

A 3-year-old with “multiple apparent stab wounds” and a 9-month-old were pronounced dead at the scene, the sheriff's office said.

Three other children, ages 5, 9, and 11, were taken to hospitals with injuries.

The 5-year-old later died at the hospital. The 9-year-old remains in critical but stable condition, officials said. The status of the 11-year-old was not disclosed.

Two other children, 14 and 16, did not appear to have injuries, according to the sheriff’s office.

Darlene Brister, 40, identified as the mother of the children involved, was found on the property and taken into custody.

She was taken to the Paulding County Detention Center on three counts of malice murder and is being held on no bond.

Lawyer information for her was not immediately available.

Officials said additional charges are “imminent.”

It was reported that, neighbors said the older children jumped out of a second-story window to escape the chaos in the home on Friday.

Edward Springer, who lives across the street from the home, said the family had lived there for about five years and he didn’t see any problems.

“They stayed to their self, kids come outside to play," he told a local news station. They were "very good, very respectful. I just don’t understand it."

Brister's husband, Ricky Brister, told WXIA that his wife was dealing with mental health issues.

The investigation, led by the Paulding County sheriff’s office and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, is ongoing.

We will update as more information becomes available.