Sonia Blanchette, accused of killing her 3 children, starves to death

She was set to appear in court in Drummondville, Que., today to set a date for murder trial

CBC News Posted: Jan 1

Sonia Blanchette was facing first-degree murder charges in the 2012 deaths of her three children. She died in a Quebec hospital on Friday. (Ryan Remiorz/Canadian Press)6, 2015 8:54 AM ET Last Updated: Jan 16, 2015 1:55 PM ET

The Quebec woman charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her children has died after refusing to eat.

• Quebec mom charged with murder of children
• Father of three slain Drummondville children speak out

Sonia Blanchette had been at Montreal's Sacré Coeur hospital since Dec. 19 and her weight had dropped to 80 pounds, according to Radio-Canada.

Correctional Service Canada had transferred Blanchette from the Tanguay detention centre in Montreal to the hospital in an effort to get her to eat.

Blanchette was accused of killing:

• Laurélie, 5.
• Loïc, 4.
• Anaïs, 2. 

The children were found at her residence in December 2012 in Drummondville, halfway between Montreal and Quebec City.

Deaths defied explanation, father says

A Quebec coroner said the two youngest children drowned, while the oldest child was killed by a combination of strangling and drowning.

Blanchette died at around 1:35 a.m. Friday, the same day she was scheduled to appear in court to set a trial date in the murder case. She had not been expected to appear in person due to her weak state.

René Verret, a spokesman for Quebec's Crown prosecutors, said the case would be closed as a result of her death. 

"We were informed of the situation early this morning," Verret said.

Sonia Blanchette's three children were found dead in Drummondville, Que., in 2012. (CBC)

Blanchette lost custody of her children early in 2012, and had been awarded visiting rights once every two weeks, to be supervised by the children's maternal grandmother.

Shortly after their deaths, Patrick Désautels, the father of the children, issued a statement saying that what happened "defies explanation."

On Friday, after learning Blanchette had died, Désautels​ said, "I have no pity. It doesn't bother me that she died."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/sonia-blanchette-accused-of-killing-her-3-children-starves-to-death-1.2912343