A Cullman County mother was sentenced Thursday to two life sentences for killing her two sons, ages 9 and 3, in 2019, court records showed.

Sara Franco Tapia, 37, of Holly Pond, was initially charged with three counts of capital murder but pleaded guilty to two counts of murder in a plea agreement that spared her the death penalty, records showed.

On Oct. 19, 2019, Tapia killed her sons, 3-year-old Alvaro Garcia and 9-year-old Taylor Garcia, by strangling and/or cutting their throats, according to court records.

Cullman County sheriff’s deputies found Tapia with self-inflicted knife wounds, a knife, and her two sons when they responded to 911 calls from the brothers’ father and a neighbor of two children murdered. Deputies set a perimeter when they arrived on the scene and deployed a K-9 unit, which led to the discovery of Tapia in a nearby field.

Tapia was sentenced Thursday to two life sentences by Cullman County Circuit Court Judge Martha E. Williams.