Mother sentenced to life in prison without parole for killing three daughters

A woman was sentenced Monday to life in state prison without the possibility of parole for fatally stabbing her three daughters in 2014, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

A jury found Carol Ann Coronado, a 32-year-old white woman, guilty Nov. 30 of three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of  her children, 2-year-old Sophia Elizabeth, 16-month-old Yazmine Aidia, and 2-month-old Xenia. 

Jurors found true the special allegations of multiple murders and that Coronado used a knife in the killings. In a sanity trial on Dec. 7, Coronado was also found to be sane at the time of the fatal attack. 

On May 20, 2014, the children’s grandmother called Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies to their West Carson residence. While searching the house, deputies entered a bedroom and found the bloodied bodies of the three girls carefully lined across the bed. The children were pronounced dead at the scene.

Coronado, barely clothed, was found beside the bed with self-inflicted wounds. Deputies later led the mother out of the home, handcuffed and covered in a blanket, said neighbor Ashley Madrid, 27, on the evening of the killing. 

“She had a zoned-out look and was just looking down,” Madrid said. “She had dry blood smeared on her face and legs.”

Detectives, who were not aware of any prior incidents involving the mother of three, recovered several knives from the home. Coronado served in the military but left after a short stint for medical reasons, L.A. County sheriff's Lt. Dave Coleman said.

John Carrion, a relative, said Coronado's husband was "dazed and confused” when he emerged from the house after seeing his daughters’ bodies.

"Right now, he's giving her the benefit of doubt," Carrion said of the husband at the time. "He just said he didn't believe he saw Carol — he saw a demon inside her. He said he doesn't blame Carol. He blames the … demon."

The girls, Carrion said, were energetic and loved the Disney movie "Frozen." There were plans for a baptism that fall.

"They were the most beautiful babies you had ever seen," he said.

Contact the Homicide Report. Follow @latimeshomicide on Twitter.

Photo: A photo of the three Coronado girls: Xenia, 2 months, top; , Sophia, 2, bottom right; Yazmine, 16 months, bottom left; hangs on a memorial during a  vigil in Carson in 2014.  Credit: Anne Cusack, Los Angeles Times