Murder questions for mother of dead children

A WOMAN has been arrested on suspicion of murdering her two babies just days after the family moved into a £1.2m home.

The 10-week-old boy and his 14-month-old sister, Lily Sky Boots, were discovered unconscious on Wednesday night by their father, Jeff Boots, when he returned home from work, sources said.

Police arrested their mother, Felicia, at the semi-detached home in south-west London after emergency services were unable to revive the children at the scene.

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Detectives suspect she smothered the babies while suffering from post-natal depression.

Mrs Boots, who is in her 30s and is a trained hairdresser, had been busy moving from a nearby penthouse apartment in the weeks before the deaths.

Both Mr Boots, an investment banker, and his wife are understood to have moved to the UK in the last few years from Canada.

Neighbours near the couple’s new three-storey home, which boasts a 45ft back garden near Wandsworth Common, said the family seemed “very nice”.

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Jackie Cook, 52, said: “It’s such a tragedy, I can’t believe it. Last night there were police swarming everywhere. There were ambulances and police cars all along the road.

“I think they only moved a couple of weeks ago.”

A tenant renting the penthouse flat in Wandsworth which Mr Boots and family left in the last few weeks said Mrs Boots had only recently given birth when she last saw her.

The woman, who did not wish to be named, said: “They seemed like lovely people, she had just had a newborn baby when we moved in as tenants.”

The up-market semi-detached property which the family moved into was recently sold for £1.2m.

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Post yesterday arrived at the address for Mr Boots as forensic officers were seen coming and going from property, which was sealed off by a cordon with two officers standing outside.

Detectives from the Metropolitan Police’s child abuse command are leading the investigation.

A Scotland Yard statement issued yesterday said: “Inquiries are under way after the death of two children in Wandsworth.

“Police were called to an address in Killarney Road at 7.25pm on Wednesday May 9.

“The London Ambulance Service also attended but a 10-week-old boy and a 14-month-old girl were pronounced dead at the scene. Post-mortem examinations will take place in due course.”