Six children are dead. Could these needless deaths have been prevented? [LATimes.com]

A woman accused of stabbing her three young daughters is on trial in Compton on murder charges.

Carol Coronado's husband testified that she'd been "acting weird" before allegedly killing the girls and then stabbing herself May 20, 2014, in the bedroom of their West Carson home.

In the hours leading up to that, she had called her mother and begged for help. When the grandmother arrived, she found the girls — ages 2 months, 16 months and 2 1/2 years — lined up on the bed. Coronado was naked and bleeding.

A man now charged with killing his three young sons has been on suicide watch in Los Angeles County Jail.

The boys — ages 10, 9 and 8 — were found stabbed to death in September in the back seat of the family car. Luis Fuentes was in the front seat, bleeding from self-inflicted wounds.

Fuentes' wife died seven years ago. He'd been depressed and struggling to raise the children since. He worked long hours. Their home life was chaotic, their finances were strained. When the boys died, the family was homeless.

Emotional turmoil doesn't excuse these attacks — six innocents were brutally killed. But I can't help but look beyond the horror and wonder:

How might those children have fared if their parents had gotten the help they needed?

To continue reading this column by Sandy Banks, go to: http://www.latimes.com/local/c...20151124-column.html