• Children aged 1 and 2 died from multiple stab wounds • Pair charged with attempted murder of two older siblings

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

Police charged two women on Saturday in connection with the deaths of two children in Maryland, saying the women believed they were performing an exorcism.

Montgomery county police charged 21-year-old Monifa Denise Sanford and 28-year-old Zakieya Latrice Avery with murder over the deaths of two of Avery's children, a one-year-old and a two-year-old. The women are also facing attempted murder charges for injuring the children's siblings, aged five and eight.

Police said the two younger children who died suffered multiple stab wounds.

Police were called to the home where the women lived on Friday. A neighbour called 911 after noticing a vehicle with the door open and a knife lying outside the vehicle. Avery was arrested when authorities say she tried to flee from a townhouse near the vehicle. Police found the two children dead inside the home, and their siblings and Sanford were taken to the hospital with injuries.

"It's kind of horrifying for any father, any grandfather," said state's attorney John McCarthy on Friday. "These are hard cases."

Police said Sanford was arrested on Saturday after being released from the hospital.

Also on Saturday police identified the children who died as Norell Harris, a one-year-old boy, and Zyana Harris, a two-year-old girl. The older children who were injured were identified as five-year-old Taniya Harris, a girl, and eight-year-old Martello Harris, a boy. They remained hospitalised on Saturday.

Police said Sanford and Avery each faced two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder. Both were being held without bond.