Crime

Cops: Man killed daughters because he didn't have car seats

January 27, 2014 / 12:31 PM EST / CBS/AP

NEW YORK – A man who allegedly stabbed his wife to death in her Queens apartment told police he also killed his two toddlers because he didn't have car seats to take them on the lam to Mexico, prosecutors said Friday as he was charged with murder.

Miguel Mejia-Ramos, 28, did not speak at his court appearance Friday and was placed on suicide watch afterward. He was being held without bail in the deaths of 1-year-old Yoselin Mejia and 2-year-old Daniela Mejia along with their mother, Deisy Garcia. His attorney did not immediately respond to a comment request.

Authorities said that Mejia-Ramos stabbed his wife to death after coming home from drinking at a friend's house on Sunday, Jan. 19. Prosecutors said he came home, checked his wife's phone and Facebook account, and snapped when he saw a photo of her with another man.

Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said Mejia-Ramos chased his wife from her bed and stabbed her to death with a knife from the apartment. He then hugged and kissed his daughters before stabbing them, too, Brown said. Five bloody knives were recovered, he said.

Mejia-Ramos tried to kill himself after committing the grisly murders but did not go through with it, according to prosecutors. He was captured at a vehicle roadblock on Interstate 10 in Schulenburg, Texas, on Monday, Jan. 20. He was only three hours from Mexico, and was located because he turned on his cellphone, authorities said.

"Everyone is, of course, devastated by that which occurred," said Brown, who met with friends and family of the victims. "I assured them that this case will be vigorously prosecuted and there will be no plea bargaining."

Mejia-Ramos was charged with six counts of first-degree murder and faces life in prison without parole if convicted.

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