Palm Bay mom charged with murder in death of children

Update, 11:08 a.m. Monday, March 23:

A third child, 5-month-old Christopher Swist, has died following the attack in Palm Bay. Read more here.

Original story:

A Palm Bay mother has been charged with murder and attempted murder after police say she killed two of her children and critically injured another.

Jessica Lacey McCarty, 33, was released from Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne and is in the Brevard County Jail Complex where she is being held without bond, according to police.

McCarty will face a preliminary hearing at the jail complex in Sharpes at 9:15 a.m. Sunday.

Just before 6 p.m. on Friday, police received a 9-1-1 call from a woman claiming that she had killed her three children and cut her own wrists on the 1100 block of Kenmore Street in Palm Bay. They received a second call from her boyfriend saying that his child wasn't breathing.

When first responders arrived at the home, they found a woman with a butcher knife standing in the front yard.

Two children, 7-year-old Laci McCarty and 6-year-old Philip McCarty, were found dead. Five-month-old Christopher Swist was found alive and transported to an Orlando hospital in critical condition.

A day after the incident, residents huddled on driveways in the neighborhood and made a pair of makeshift memorials that included stuffed animals, flowers and a lit candle.

It was part of the grieving process for the once quiet, peaceful neighborhood.

Story continues below:

"Just Thursday afternoon we were out here in the front yard and I watched a little boy get out of the house with his baseball uniform on and his blue shirt and his white pants and the little girl was riding her bicycle right here," Chris Kapps, a neighbor, said. "... and just to come home after a Friday afternoon to find that she's shattered the lives of her family, but really shocked the community with such an event."

He described the family that lives in the rental house as quiet, nice and clean. He also said Jessica McCarty was polite in his brief interactions with her.

"She was very quiet," he said. "They kept to themselves, but were cordial."

He and his fiancée, Kathleen Cano, placed a stuffed animal and flowers by the scene of the stabbing.

"They're kids. We wanted to show our love," Cano said.

"My fiancée and I had a rough night's sleep, so we were compelled. I knew they were children we barely knew, but they were my neighbors, they were friendly. I can see them right now and it's just tough to have this go down the way it did."

Contact Bonanno at 321-242-3662, cbonanno@floridatoday.com or follow Chris on Twitter at @ftchrisbonanno