Updated 10-30-19 5:58 p.m.
Editor’s note: The Tribune reported Tuesday that Tapia is facing two capital murder charges. Court records revealed today she is facing a third charge of capital murder of two or more persons.
CULLMAN, Ala. – Sara Franco Tapia, 32, of Baileyton was booked into the Cullman County Detention Center Monday, 16 days after she allegedly murdered her two young sons, 3-year-old Alvaro Garcia and 9-year-old Taylor Garcia, Oct. 12, 2019. Tapia’s charges have been upgraded from murder to capital murder, according to court records.
Tapia is facing two counts of capital murder and one count of capital murder of two or more persons.
Capital offenses in Alabama carry a punishment of either the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole.
She is being held without bond.
Tapia had been in an area hospital recovering from self-inflicted wounds since the day of the murders.
The two young boys were found murdered at the family’s home along the 4000 block of County Road 1718 near Baileyton Saturday afternoon, Oct. 12.
A visibly distraught Cullman County Sheriff Matt Gentry addressed the media early that evening.
“You never can prepare yourself in the 20 years I’ve been in law enforcement for children…for something bad to happen to children. There’s a lot of evil in this world, and that’s just what we saw today, was evil,” said Gentry.
The Cullman County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) said in a statement that dispatch received a 911 call at approximately 2:30 p.m. that day.
“We found two small children that were deceased,” Gentry said. “Deputies immediately secured the perimeter. We started an active search. We deployed our K-9s here at the property. Within a couple of hundred yards of the residence, we located the suspect, which is the mother of the children. We arrested the mother and she’s been flown to a hospital.”
Tapia remained in the hospital until Monday, Oct. 28, when she was released and taken to the Cullman County Detention Center.
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