An Indiana mother said she gave her two young children a “choice” to live or die before she smothered them to death with her hands.

Amber Pasztor, who is facing murder charges in the deaths of her 6-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter, reportedly told local news station from jail on Monday that she killed her children to prevent them from living a “traumatized” life like hers.

“I gave them a choice,” she told WANE. “That they can live traumatized like their mom, or they can go to heaven with God and be better off.”

Pasztor, 29, said she stole a car and kidnapped her children from the home of her father, who is their legal guardian, late last month. She decided to kill them when she heard that an Amber Alert had been issued for them while they were driving.

Pasztor told WANE that she smothered her daughter first by covering the little girl’s mouth and nose with her hands until she stopped breathing, and then her son, who she said “wanted to go with” his sister. She said both children wanted to go to heaven.

“They were in good hands, but I don’t think they were safe,” she said. “My kids are in a better place. They’re in heaven now. They don’t have no worries no more.”

When asked if the children fought back while they were being smothered, Pasztor said: “A little bit, yeah.”

[WANE]

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