FILE- In this July 7, 2017 file photo Isabel Martinez speaks during her first court appearance in Lawrenceville, Ga. The suburban Atlanta woman has pleaded guilty to fatally stabbing her husband and four children and seriously injuring another daughter. Martinez pleaded guilty but mentally ill Tuesday, April 23, 2019 to five counts of murder and other charges. She was sentenced to five life sentences with the possibility of parole plus 21 years. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, file)
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – A suburban Atlanta woman has pleaded guilty to fatally stabbing her husband and four children and seriously injuring another daughter.
WSB-TV reports that 35-year-old Isabel Martinez pleaded guilty but mentally ill Tuesday to five counts of murder and other charges. She was sentenced to five life sentences with the possibility of parole plus 21 years.
The Gwinnett County District Attorney's Office had declined to seek the death penalty because of Martinez's mental state.
The July 2017 attack injured then-9-year-old Diana Romero and killed 33-year-old Martin Romero, 2-year-old Axel Romero, 4-year-old Dillan Romero, 7-year-old Dacota Romero and 10-year-old Isabela Martinez.
Friends told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Martinez had been depressed before the killings and had outbursts of anger and sadness.
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