Mother of 3 children found dead in home charged with murder

LE GRAND, Calif. (AP) — Officials say the mother of three children found dead inside a home in central California has been charged with murder. The Merced County Sheriff’s Office says deputies doing a welfare check found the 3-, 5- and 8-year-old children Wednesday in a Merced County apartment. The office says they also found the children’s mother, Patricia Ortiz, with what appeared to be self-inflicted wounds. Sheriff’s spokesman Deputy Daryl Allen says the 31-year-old Ortiz was taken to a hospital and was expected to be released Thursday and taken to jail. Allen said he couldn’t discuss how the children died or describe Ortiz’s injuries due to the ongoing investigation.