Guatemala mother who drowned her two daughters in tub kills herself in jail

A California mom accused of drowning her two young girls in the bathtub has killed herself in jail, it has emerged.

She reportedly died on Feb. 23, but it was not made public by sheriff's officials until this week.

The suicide happened the day after the Guatemala native was told she could face the death penalty if convicted of the murders of daughters Lindsay, 1, and Marian, 5, last year.

Lorna Valle was in jail for allegedly trying to drown her two girls in an infant tub.

Valle, said to have been suffering from depression, allegedly tried to drown her girls in an infant tub at around 7:30 a.m. on Feb. 15, 2012.

Investigators said the perfume shop worker was only stopped when her husband, Jose Lopez, returned to their south Los Angeles home from picking up groceries.

He called police to the scene, with Lindsay being pronounced dead.

Marian died a week later after gardener Lopez took the heart-breaking decision to switch off her life-support machine.

The couple had been in the U.S. for 10 years.