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A Torrance-area mother convicted of murdering her three daughters faces life in prison after a judge on Thursday ruled that she was sane during the brutal killing.

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Facebook photo of 30-year-old Carol Coronado, whose three daughters were found dead on May 20, 2014.

Carol Ann Coronado, 32, was convicted in November of first-degree murder in the fatal stabbing of 2-year-old Sophia, 16-month-old Yazmine and 2-month-old Xenia, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

The judge also ruled in favor of special circumstance allegations of multiple murders, and that she used a deadly and dangerous weapon, a knife, during the attack, according to the DA.

Prior to the conviction, the mother had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity and waived her right to a jury trial.

On Thursday, Judge Ricardo R. Ocampo found Coronado was sane when she killed her three daughters. Details on the ruling were not provided.

The decision means she faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The children’s grandmother discovered them dead at a home shared by Coronado, her husband, and their children, located in an unincorporated area between Torrance and Carson on May 20, 2014, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

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Rudy Coronado mourns at a May 21, 2014. vigil for his three daughters, who were allegedly killed by his wife at their home. (Credit: KTLA)

“A mother had killed her children,” a family member, believed to be the grandmother, told responding sheriff’s deputies.

The three girls were then found lying in a pool of blood on a bed with Coronado, who was naked and holding a knife, according to investigators.

It was not known where the girls’ father was at the time, but pictures a day after the murders showed him kneeling on the floor in front of a makeshift memorial, holding pictures and sobbing as several people held him.

Coronado’s sentencing was scheduled to take place on Jan. 7.

A photo of the three murdered Coronado girls displayed during a memorial vigil in 2014 are Xenia, 2 months, top; Sophia, 2, bottom right; Yazmine, 16 months, bottom left. (Credit: Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
A photo of the three murdered Coronado girls displayed during a memorial vigil in 2014 are Xenia, 2 months, top; Sophia, 2, bottom right; Yazmine, 16 months, bottom left. (Credit: Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)