The woman accused of killing two of her children in an Oct. 12 incident at a Baileyton-area residence has been charged with two counts of capital murder, as well an additional capital murder charge under an Alabama statute that takes into account aggravating circumstances in the commission of a homicide.

A complaint filed this week in Cullman County District Court accuses 32 year-old Sara Franco Tapia of separate counts of capital murder in connection with the deaths of brothers Alvaro Garcia, age 3; and Taylor Garcia, age 9.

The third capital charge — capital murder of two or more persons — references a seldom-invoked statute in the Alabama Criminal Code, which prescribes a capital offense for the intentional killing of “two or more persons…by one act or pursuant to one scheme or course of conduct.”

The newly-released complaint alleges that Tapia killed each victim “by strangling him and/or cutting his throat.” Each of those two charges qualifies as a capital offense under Alabama law because each of the alleged victims was less than fourteen years old.

Law enforcement officials say the brothers died following injuries they sustained in an attack at their home along County Road 1718 near Baileyton. Investigators have said that they recovered a knife at the scene, and that Tapia was found in a grassy field near the residence shortly after law enforcement responded at the scene.

Investigators have not yet made public any suspicion they may have regarding the suspect’s motive. Cullman County Sheriff Matt Gentry said at an Oct. 15 press conference that, in the days immediately following the deaths, investigators did not believe the suspect’s alleged actions stemmed from any sort of mental health issue.

Tapia is being held in the Cullman County Detention Center without bond, following her release from a North Alabama hospital where she was treated for what law enforcement describes as self-inflicted injuries.