Mother charged with murder after 'young sons burned alive in oven'

A mother has been charged with murder after allegedly burning her children alive in an oven.

Lamora Williams, 24, was arrested after Ja'Karter Penn, one, and Ke'Yaunte Penn, two, were found badly burned at their home in Atlanta, Georgia.

She is accused of killing them “by placing them in an oven and turning it on”, according to an arrest warrant obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The boys were found on Friday night after Ms Williams called their father on video chat and showed him their bodies lying on the floor, the newspaper reported.

Atlanta Police said the children “received burn marks on their bodies at some point, possibly from the stove.”

Their father, Jameel Penn, told WSB-TV2: "It was like a real horror movie. It was Friday the 13th. When I saw my kid, how I saw my kid, that's when I knew what was going on."

Police are awaiting the results of autopsies to establish how they died. They have removed the oven from the apartment for further investigation.

Ms Williams had another son, three, and daughter, six, who were unharmed.

She was reported to have told police she left her children with a child-minder and returned to find the boys dead.

But after questioning police did not believe she had left the children with anyone and she was charged her with murder.

She was remanded in custody at Fulton County jail ahead and is due to appear in court charged with two counts of felony murder and child cruelty.

The crimes were alleged to have taken place between midnight on Thursday and 11pm on Friday.

Friends and family told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution they believed Ms Williams was suffering from undiagnosed mental health problems, exacerbated by the death of her father and the stress of being a single mother.

“Nobody could tell what she was going through,” said long-time friend Neesa Smith.