Two 3-year-old twin boys are dead after the two toddlers ingested or were exposed to “an unknown substance” in Canoga Park, and their mother could appear in court as early as Monday.
One of the children died Thursday after officers responded to a radio call of a child death investigation in the 20000 block of Sherman Way, the Los Angeles Police Department said in a news release.
The boys’ mother had “discovered them unresponsive,” authorities said. Both children were taken to the hospital, where one of them died. The deceased boy was later identified as Josiah James by the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner.
Police on Monday confirmed that his brother died late Saturday.
A preliminary investigation indicated that the children “had ingested, or been exposed to, an unknown substance,” police initially said. An official cause of death has not been released.
Their mother, Jestice James, was arrested and booked on suspicion of murder. Her bail was set at $2 million.
The boys lived at the Palm Vista Apartments, an affordable housing building run by the city of Los Angeles that includes some units for people experiencing homelessness.