Mom charged with fatally stabbing 2 daughters

updated 9:34 a.m. ET Sept. 10, 2009

LOS ANGELES - A mother accused of fatally slashing her two daughters' throats inside their Los Angeles home has been charged with two counts of murder.

Antonia Gomez was also charged Wednesday with the special circumstance of multiple murders, making her eligible for the death penalty if convicted.

Prosecutors alleged Gomez stabbed her 11-year-old daughter Edith Moreno and her 17-year-old sister Diana Moreno on Sept. 2 before cutting her own arms.

Relatives told the Los Angeles Times the 37-year-old mother recently lost her job, could not make mortgage payments on her Sun Valley home, and had been hospitalized for stress.

Gomez also has a 14-year-old daughter who was not at the home at the time of the killings.

Bail was denied and Gomez' arraignment was reset for Sept. 17.

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