Report: Mom suspected of drowning 2 kids was desperate for money

HOUSTON -- The former employer of a woman suspected of drowning her son and daughter said she showed up at his restaurant Saturday desperate for her last paycheck, according to CBS affiliate KHOU.

"She was sweating, she was kind of angry that she didn't have any money," said Santiago Wesley, owner of Little Cajun Kitchen. In an interview with the station, Wesley said Sheborah Thomas was trying to pick up a check for $47. The encounter occurred after police believe Thomas drowned her children, Oralynn, 7, and Kayana, 5, on Friday.

The victims were found under a neighbor's home, police said. Authorities said the 30-year-old mother matter-of-factly told someone helping her move that she had drowned the children in a bathtub, authorities said.

Wesley said Thomas, 30, walked away from the job a few weeks ago after staff confronted her about increasingly bizarre behavior.

"That's not the woman I knew," Wesley said.

Thomas' friend Akinthia Ivey told the station that Thomas often talked about the pressures of taking care of kids.

"She said that she was tired, that she was going under stress, getting into it, like the kids were really getting on her nerves," Ivey said.

Thomas is in the Harris County Jail facing two capital murder charges. She is being held without bond.