On Monday, February 27, a judge in Texas sentenced a woman to 40 years in prison. She admitted to drowning her two young children and hiding their bodies under a neighbor’s house more than seven years ago.

Sheborah Latrice Thomas pled guilty to the double homicide of her children, Araylon and Kayiana Thomas, ages 7 and 5.

The District Attorney’s Office in Harris County, Texas issued a statement detailing the 40-year sentence. District Attorney Kim Ogg claims the mother was fully aware of the gravity of her actions and knew what she did was wrong.

DA Ogg stated that her office would do everything possible to ensure that the children were given justice, and the plea agreement ensured that their loved ones would not have to go through the ordeal of testifying against Thomas and that Thomas would not be able to file an appeal.

On August 12, 2016, Thomas took her daughter Kayiana to the bathroom of their Houston home, where she drowned her and then set her lifeless body on a bed, as stated in the press release. Then she did the same thing to her son Araylon.

The next day, she disposed of both bodies in a trash can behind her house, then went to her job and demanded her paycheck. After getting back to her house, she attempted to dig a grave to bury the bodies, but the task proved too difficult.

When she was unable to dig a hole, she hid the bodies under her neighbor’s house.

Thomas told a friend about what she had done and why she had to leave town, seemingly proud of her heinous deeds. She didn’t just tell him where she buried the dead; she showed him. After being contacted by her friend, Houston police located and apprehended the woman responsible for the murders

The woman’s other son, a 12-year-old, was not present at the home during the crimes.

In 2012, Thomas lost custody of her kids when police discovered one of them out on the streets with a homeless man.

A relative claims that the day before Thomas drowned her children, Child Protective Services and Houston police officers had visited her home.

The family finally had closure, according to Assistant District Attorney Sarah Moss.