California Mom Confesses To Drowning Her 3 Kids: ‘I Did It As Softly’

A Los Angeles, California mother suspected of killing her three young children earlier this month has reportedly claimed responsibility for the murders.

In a Thursday jailhouse interview with local television station KGET-TV, 30-year-old Liliana Carrillo admitted to drowning her children — 3-year-old Joanna Denton Carrillo, her 2-year-old brother, Terry, and 6-month-old sister, Sierra — supposedly in order to protect them from their father, her ex-boyfriend Erik Denton.

"I drowned them. I did it as softly, I don’t know how to explain it. I hugged them. I kissed them. I was apologizing the whole time. I loved my kids," Carrillo said in the interview conducted inside a Kern County jail.

She explained, "I didn't want them to be further abused. I loved my kids. I wish this didn't have to be the case, but I promised to protect them."

Carrillo and Denton were in the middle of a custody battle when the three young children were found dead by their maternal grandmother inside their Reseda, California apartment on April 10, court documents obtained by the Los Angeles Times revealed. Police labeled Carrillo a person of interest, and she was arrested in Tulare County, nearly 200 miles north of the scene, after she allegedly carjacked a pickup truck.

When asked if she regretted her actions, Carrillo told the outlet, "I wish my kids were alive, yes. Do I wish I didn't have to do that, yes? But I prefer them not being tortured and abused on a regular basis for the rest of their life."

She said her final message for her children was, "I love you. And I'm sorry."

According to the documents, Denton had already expressed concern over the mental state of Carrillo, who allegedly believed she was "solely responsible" for the COVID-19 pandemic and insisted that their previous residence in Porterville was home to a child sex trafficking ring.

"I am afraid for my children's physical and mental well-being," Denton told a judge last month, as per the Times. Denton was scheduled to meet his children the day after they were discovered dead, KTLA reported.

Carrillo has not been formally charged in the deaths of the children. She pleaded not guilty to the carjacking case in a hearing Wednesday.

A GoFundMe page organized by Denton's childhood friend with the intent to help with costs related to the children's deaths has raised $43,515 as of writing.

"It is more than words to describe his loss and the help that Erik needs at this time," the page's description said.