Marilyn_Edge_244x183
Marilyn Edge, 42, has been charged in the poisoning deaths of her two children. CBSNews.com

An Arizona woman has been charged with murder after she killed her two children and attempted suicide by crashing her car in a Home Depot parking lot in Southern California.

According to CNN, Marilyn Edge, 42, had a cord wrapped around her neck. She was trying to strangle herself when police approached her wrecked vehicle. Authorities also found a propane gas tank inside the car.

After she was removed from the vehicle, Edge told the cops to go to Santa Ana Hampton Inn, CNN reports. There, police found the bodies of 13-year-old Jaelen, who is autistic, and Faith, 10.

Edge has been charged with two counts of murder. According to CBSNews.com, prosecutors allege that she poisoned both of her children.

Edge’s ex-husband, Mark Edge, found out about the death of his children on Sunday. "He's emotionally, extremely distressed," Edge’s attorney Marian Weeks said, CBSNews.com reports. "He is getting better. His whole focus right now is on the children."

Just prior to the murders, Edge was ordered by a judge to return her two children to their father in Georgia, as part of the latest chapter in a bitter custody battle with her ex-husband.

"When Judge Leonard was giving his order on Wednesday afternoon, she got up and left the courtroom in the middle of it, so that was the ultimate message to Judge Leonard: 'I'm not going to listen to what you have to say.'" Weeks said, according to CNN.

Weeks warned her client that Edge might try to kidnap the children. "I'd even said to him I thought she'd take the kids to California because she'd lived in California in the past," Weeks said. "But neither of us thought she'd kill the children."

According to CNN, Edge faces a minimum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. She will be eligible for the death penalty if convicted.

The Associated Press reports that Edge appeared in court today to be arraigned on two counts of murder. When Judge Craig Robson asked her if she wanted the arraignment postponed to Oct. 25, Edge replied that she would only agree to it if the judge could promise that she would receive the death penalty.

The arraignment was postponed.