05-05-2025
Schoolboys, 6 and 7, found dead inside home with woman arrested in 'truly horrible event'
A woman has been arrested after the bodies of two children were discovered during a welfare check.
Emergency services responded to the home on Emu Lane in Coonabarabran, New South Wales just after 2pm on Monday, where they found the boys, aged six and seven, dead inside the property.
The 66-year-old woman, who is believed to be the children's grandmother, was taken into custody at the scene and transported to hospital for further assessment. She remains under police guard.
Authorities confirmed that the woman and children were known to each other.
Police stated that there is no ongoing threat to the public and that they were not seeking any other individuals in connection with the incident.
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NSW Premier Chris Minns expressed his condolences, saying, "What has occurred is terrible, and as a state we share in the Coonabarabran community's grief over the loss of two young boys who had their whole lives ahead of them.
"I can't begin to imagine the heartbreak their family, friends, and teachers are going through," he added, also thanking local police for their professionalism and courage in responding to the tragic scene.
NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb confirmed that additional police resources have been deployed to the town as the investigation continues. Inquiries are ongoing.
It comes as an American couple is set to spend the rest of their lives behind bars after their two-year-old toddler died as a result of being left in a scorching hot car along with three of his siblings. A fifth child of theirs, aged 3, also died of malnutrition after being rushed to hospital.
Deja and Justin Rollins were each handed a 70-year prison sentence to conclude what prosecutors called one of the most 'disturbing' cases they've ever seen. The couple admitted to trapping their four children - aged 2, 4, 7, and 10 - inside a blistering car while they rushed their fifth child, aged 3, to a Little Rock Children's Hospital in Arkansas on July 7, 2024, the Pulsaki County Attorney's Office said.
Prosecutors said the couple's three-year-old died of severe malnutrition, sparking a police investigation into the tot's siblings.
'This case is one of the most disturbing and heartbreaking our office has ever encountered', prosecuting attorney Will Jones said in a statement.
According to officials, mum Deja, 28, and dad Justin, 30, locked their four kids inside the boiling hot vehicle, which they parked at Arkansas Children's Hospital as they rushed their 3-year-old in for 'urgent medical treatment'.
Officers raced to the hospital after being alerted to a report of child abuse and neglect before finding the car outside the facility.
Deja and Justin, meanwhile, failed to tell cops where the vehicle was located, the Jacksonville Police Department said.
The children were taken into the hospital where they were treated for heat exhaustion, but tragically, the youngest - two-year-old Jay'Dien Rollins - died from fatal heat exhaustion and severe malnutrition the following day.
The married couple each pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder and first-degree domestic battery.
