A Houston mother who drowned her two children, ages 5 and 7, in 2016 pleaded guilty to two counts of murder on Monday in exchange for 40 years in prison, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced.

“This mother knew what she was doing, she knew it was wrong, and we vowed to seek justice for these two children,” Ogg said. “This plea agreement means that family members will not have to testify and this woman cannot appeal her conviction or the sentence.”

Sheborah Latrice Thomas drowned her daughter, 5-year-old Kayiana Thomas, in the bathtub of the family’s home in the 3000 block of Tierwester in southeast Houston on Aug. 12, 2016. She put her daughter’s body on a bed, then called her 7-year-old son, Araylon “Ray Ray” Thomas, to the bathroom and drowned him.

A day later, she put the children’s bodies into a trashcan behind the house and went to her job and tried to get her paycheck early.

Unable to leave town, she tried to dig a hole for the bodies, but when she couldn’t dig a hole large enough, she rolled the bodies under a neighbor’s house.

She started packing up her house and throwing things away. She told a friend that she had drowned the children and had to leave town, but he thought it was a joke. When he realized she was not joking, he asked more questions and she apparently showed him where the bodies could be found. He then contacted Houston police.

Assistant District Attorneys James O’Donnell and Sarah Moss prosecuted the case.

“Justice means that Sheborah Thomas is being held responsible for taking these children’s lives,” O’Donnell said.

Moss agreed. “It gives the family closure, and the children can finally be at rest.”