Separate juries concluded in January 2015 that Magana, a mother from Corona, and her boyfriend Naresh Marine deserved the death penalty for the May 2009 murder of her toddler son Malachi who was scalded and subjected to beatings before he died five days later. [30]

While being interviewed by detectives after the discovery of the bodies, “For hours, she feigned grief, sadness and bewilderment,” Martinez said. Nelson was convicted in the stabbing deaths of fortune teller Ha "Jade" Smith, and her daughter Anita Vo. [36]Bailey said the couple fought almost every day, and sometimes the arguments would escalate to screaming. The defendant not only took the lives of Neal, Devon and Ian with these murders. She took a piece of Jan (Neal's mother) with her, a piece of Mala (Neal's sister) with her. She ruined more lives than I can count." Unlike the testimonies from friends, peers, clergy, and her brother, Shunling Tsang said she wasn’t angry or unhappy about her childhood and experienced little to no mistreatment from her parents. I do remember when I stepped over (Neal), I almost slipped and fell because there was so much blood,” Deputy Tim Bryant said.

Throughout the penalty phase, the defense tried to reveal the story of Manling Williams, one they said was filled with "pain, heartache, and diminished dreams." Coincidentally, her children were suffocated to death," Okun-Wiese said. Althaus said the dreams showed Williams' mental state. "That is a problem in her head, how does that show premeditation?" Althaus said. "How does that set up (her husband) for the crime? It goes against that." Los Angeles County sheriff’s Detective Donald Walls said Manling was arrogant during her confession and even joked about being on CSI. He said for the most part she was relaxed as if they were friends and having a lunch date. And Jan and Mala Williams were there too. The mother and sister, respectively, of Neal Williams - Manling's former husband - were in court to share stories of how they were impacted by the murder of Neal, and their two children, Devon, 7, and Ian, 3. Williams, 31, was convicted Nov. 4 of slashing to death her husband, Neal, and smothering her two sons, Devon, 7, and Ian, 3, with a pillow in their Rowland Heights home on Aug. 7, 2007.Jan, the kids grandmother and Neal’s mother was at work when she got the phone call that no parent should ever get. She remembers thinking “I thought maybe they were in an accident. But murder? Who would murder them? And the boys? Who would kill little boys?”