Mother is going to prison for stabbing her kids while they slept

ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY PRESS RELEASE

Case # 09WF1952

Date: January 26, 2015

MOTHER SENTENCED TO 11 YEARS TO LIFE IN PRISON FOR ATTEMPTING TO MURDER HER TWO CHILDREN BY STABBING THEM WHILE THEY WERE ASLEEP

SANTA ANA – A mother was sentenced Friday, Jan. 23, 2015, to 11 years to life in state prison for attempting to murder her two young children by stabbing them while they were asleep. Thuy Thi Le, 43, Westminster, was found guilty by a jury Feb. 4, 2014, of two felony counts each of attempted murder, and child abuse and endangerment with sentencing enhancements for the personal use of a deadly weapon and committing great bodily injury. On Oct. 27, 2014, a unanimous jury found the sentencing enhancement for premeditation and deliberation for the attempted murder charge to be true following a retrial of the sentencing enhancement as a former jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict, finding 11 to one for the sentencing enhancement to be true. The defendant, who entered pleas of “not guilty” and “not guilty by reason of insanity,” was found to be legally sane at the time of the murder by the jury on Oct. 31, 2014.

At approximately 6:30 a.m. on Sept. 16, 2009, Le spent the night at a family member’s home with her children, 5-year-old Child Doe #1 and 3-year-old Child Doe #2. Her boyfriend, who is the father of the children, was at work. Le slept with her two children together on a mattress in the family room. The defendant went into the kitchen, picked up a knife from the sink, walked back over to the children, stabbed each of them in the chest, and then stabbed herself nearly 25 times. She then called 911.

Child Doe #1 suffered a stab wound to the chest and the knife penetrated her heart. Child Doe #1 was sent to University of California Irvine Medical Center and underwent emergency open-heart surgery to save her life. Child Doe #2 suffered a stab wound to the chest area, but the stab wound missed any vital organs.

Senior Deputy District Attorney John Christl of the Special Prosecutions Unit prosecuted this case.

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TONY RACKAUCKAS, District Attorney

Susan Kang Schroeder, Chief of Staff
Office: 714-347-8408
Cell: 714-292-2718