Nanny Found Guilty Of Murdering Children In Her Care, DA Says

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — A former nanny was found guilty Wednesday of murdering two children in her care after a trial in Manhattan Criminal Court, prosecutors said.

Yoselyn Ortega — the 55-year-old nanny who admitted to stabbing 2-year-old Leo Krim and 6-year-old Lucia Krim in 2012 — was convicted on all charges after a Manhattan jury rejected her mental illness defense, according to the Manhattan District Attorney's office.

"It was not a decision we reached lightly or easily," said David Curtis, a member of the jury. "There were some raised voices and a lot of tears, but I think we all feel good that we addressed all of the issues and fairly weighed everything that was presented to us."

The conviction came after a trial where defense attorneys argued Ortega suffered from an undiagnosed mental illness but prosecutors said she killed the children out of jealousy for their mother, Marina Krim.

"She did it intentionally with a full understanding of exactly what it was she was doing," Assistant District Attorney Stuart Silberg said during closing arguments, according to the Associated Press. " Every stab, every slash."

Krim found her children's bodies when she returned to her Upper West Side apartment on Oct. 25, 2012, with her 3-year-old daughter Nessie, she said during her testimony.

The Upper West Side mom had gone to pick up Lucia, who went by Lulu, from a dance class, but the little girl wasn't there. Krim walked into her home to find her children stabbed to death in a bathtub, with Ortega lying unconscious next to them in the bathroom, she later testified.

"It was a scream you can’t imagine is even inside of you," Krim said, according to the AP. "I don’t even know where it came from. I just thought: 'I’m never going to be able to talk to them ever again. They are dead. I just saw my kids dead.'"

Ortega stabbed herself, apparently trying to kill herself, after attacking the two children but survived her injuries, prosecutors said.

Ortega's lawyers argued that the 55-year-old had no memory of killing the children, and that she had an undiagnosed mental illness.

But the jury in Manhattan Criminal court found her guilty on all counts Wednesday afternoon.

"It is horrifying to think of being in a position of having to experience or go through the process that the Krims had to go through," said Curtis, who was comforted by fellow jury members during a post-verdict press conference. "Our heart goes out to them."

Ortega is scheduled to be sentenced in May. District attorney Cy Vance said after the verdict that his office would recommend Ortega spend the rest of her life in prison, the maximum sentence. Kevin Krim, Leo and Lulu's father, stood next to Vance while he addressed the press on Wednesday, crying quietly.

This post has been updated throughout with additional information.

Image credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images. Image caption: Angel Colone prays in front of the building where two children were stabbed to death allegedly by their nanny in a family's Upper West Side apartment on October 26, 2012 in New York City.