Charges sought in SC case reminiscent of Susan Smith child murders (UPDATE: MOTHER CONFESSES)

I wrote about this briefly last night. The AP follows up this morning with a report that local law enforcement are seeking to press charges:

ORANGEBURG, S.C. (AP) – Two young boys were pulled dead from the child seats in their car in a river and a South Carolina sheriff said Tuesday he expects to press murder charges against their mother.

Speaking on CBS'”Early Show,” Orangeburg County Sheriff Larry Williams said there were inconsistencies in the mother’s account that she’d been in an accident, such as her clothes being dry.

“For someone who had just plunged into the Edisto River here, of course, and had two children in the car, her clothing wasn’t damp,” Williams said of Shaquan Duley’s initial report.

The sheriff also noted that Duley, 29, walked some distance from the car to find help when there were nearby houses.

Williams said investigators were ready to present their case to a judge in hopes of getting murder charges against Duley, who was in custody Tuesday.

Duley was arrested Monday and was being held on a charge of leaving the scene of an accident after her two sons were found dead in a vehicle in the North Edisto River, still strapped into their car seats.

Autopsies were planned Tuesday on the bodies of 2-year-old Devean C. Duley and 18-month-old Ja’van T. Duley to determine how they died.

Neither Williams nor Coroner Samuetta Marshall returned telephone calls early Tuesday from The Associated Press.

Williams planned a news conference for 10 a.m. to discuss more details.

South Carolina’s The State news outlet has more:

Authorities are investigating how the car got into the river. Rails on the bridge did not appear damaged, and residents familiar with the area said the only way the car likely would have wound up in the river was by the only access, a boat landing at Shillings Bridge Road, adjacent to the bridge.

Stay tuned …

Update 1 – 12:05 PM: According to authorities, the mother has confessed:

South Carolina mother who claimed her children drowned when her car careened into a river was charged with murder Tuesday after authorities said she confessing to suffocating the two toddlers and then faking the accident.

Sheriff Larry Williams said 29-year-old Shaquan Duley told investigators she was distraught about her money troubles and unemployment and that she killed her killed her children by putting her hand over their mouths after a dispute with her own mother. He says Duley then strapped the children into her car and drove it into a river Monday morning.

“This was a young lady that was in trouble, in trouble in more ways than she realized,” Williams said. “She was in trouble and she didn’t know where to turn.”

Williams said the responsibilities of being a mother were simply too much for the mother, who didn’t show signs of remorse during an overnight interview with authorities.

Maximum.penalty.allowed.by.law.

May those little boys RIP, and I hope that their mother’s jail cell is wallpapered with their pictures from floor to ceiling.

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