Mother charged with fatally stabbing kids

Tonya Vasilev, 34, appeared in court Friday afternoon and answered the judge’s questions in a soft, shaking voice. The judge appointed a public defender to represent her and ordered her held without bail.

The children’s father, Nikolai Vasilev, discovered the bloody scene Wednesday night when he returned to the house with a friend who had been living with the family, prosecutor Richard Karwaczka said.

Vasilev spotted the boy, Christian, lying on the kitchen floor, Karwaczka said. The father scooped him up and carried him to the front door, where he called the emergency services.

The girl, Grace, was found dead at the top of the stairs, the prosecutor said. "Right next to Grace was the defendant, Tonya, sitting there with a knife," he said.

The mother was taken to the police station for questioning, where Karwaczka said she admitted stabbing the children. She had what appeared to be minor cuts on her hands, police said.

Emergency crews tried to resuscitate the boy when they arrived, but couldn’t save him, Hoffman Estates police Lt Rich Russo said Friday. Inside the home, he said, officers found several knives believed to have been used to kill the children.