AZ mother who killed her children at a Santa Ana hotel, poisoned them

Authorities have learned more about the mother who tried to kill herself this weekend in Costa Mesa – and whose comments to police led them to the bodies of her two children, at the Santa Ana Hampton Inn.

Marilyn Kay Edge, of Scottsdale, Ariz., is charged with two counts of murder with special circumstances in the deaths of her daughter Faith and son Jaelen, according to the Huffington Post.

The Orange County Coroner’s office determined today that the children were poisoned.  Their  mother, 42-year-old Edge, has been charged with their murders in  what seems to be a tragic ending to a bitter custody battle, according to Fox News.

The Associated Press reported that Edge’s ex-husband, Mark, had recently received full custody of their 13-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter. According to the report, Edge on Friday sent a text message to her ex-husband saying she would take the children to Georgia, where he lives, according to the L.A. Times.

The Edges were married for less than 10 years and divorced in December 2007, Weeks said. Marilyn Edge claimed her former husband, who routinely traveled to Afghanistan where he worked as a contractor, failed to make child support payments, according to court records, as reported by the Fresno Bee.

The Fresno Bee also reported that “At a hearing last Wednesday in a Georgia courtroom, a judge found that Marilyn Edge was alienating her children from her ex-husband and said he should be given full custody, according to Mark Edge’s attorney, Marian Weeks. It’s customary for the custody transfer to happen the same day as the judge’s order, Weeks said, but Marilyn Edge said the children were staying with her parents in Arizona.”

The judge gave her until noon Sunday to turn over the children. On Friday, Mark Edge received a text from his ex-wife saying, “‘I will see you on Sunday and I have their school records,'” Weeks said, according to the Huffington Post.

The investigation is ongoing. Edge is expected in court Tuesday for an arraignment hearing, according to ABC.  Edge could be eligible for the death penalty if convicted.