A mother accused of drowning and strangling her three young children has starved herself to death in prison before she could be tried for their murders.
Sonia Blanchette, 35, allegedly killed her daughters Anaïs, two, and Laurélie, five, as well as her son Loïc, who was four years old, in a bath tub in her apartment after losing custody of them.
They were found dead in Blanchette's apartment in Drummondville, near Montreal, Quebec, in December 2012.
Coroners said Anaïs and Loïc drowned, while Laurélie, the eldest, died from strangulation and drowning.
Murder trial: Sonia Blanchette, center, decided to kill herself rather than face a trial for allegedly drowning her three young children in the bath tub
'Murdered by their mother': Blanchette's children (left to right) Laurélie, five, Anaïs, two and Loïc, four, were found dead in her Quebec apartment in December 2012
She had lost custody of them to their father earlier in the year, and was only allowed to see them at weekends.
Blanchette was charged with first degree murder and has been awaiting trial for more than two years - but according to lawyers she decided to starve herself to death rather than face a jury.
According to the Globe and Mail, she decided to stop eating on the second anniversary of her children's death.
Prison officials shipped her to a psychiatric facility, and had reportedly planned to keep her alive by force-feeding her through a tube - until her lawyer stopped them.
Attorney Jean-Pierre Ménard said he intervened so Blanchette would be allowed to kill herself. Under Quebec law, anybody deemed mentally competent is allowed to refuse treatment of any kind. 
Grief: The children's father, Patrick Desautels (right) said he wishes Blanchette had stayed alive longer to think about her actions
He said: 'Over time she decided life didn’t have any more interest to her. She reflected for a long time on her condition, her prospects, and decided to put an end to her days.'
'Her biggest hope was to rejoin her children.'
She died Thursday, the day before a date was to be set for her trial, where she stood accused of first-degree murder.
Blanchette weighed just 80lbs when she died, according to the Montreal Gazette, Staff at the Sacré-Coeur Hospital in Montreal had reportedly sedated her so she would suffer less.
The children's father, Patrick Desautels, said that he wishes Blanchette had stayed alive longer to face up to her actions - but admitted her death saved him the agony of a trial.
He told Radio Canada: 'I don’t have to go through the trial. It wasn’t going to bring me anything.
'I would have liked her to have spent more time in prison having to think about what she had done. But she decided otherwise.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2915490/Mom-drowned-strangled-three-children-DIES-prison-starving-murder-trial-start.html#ixzz3PBeHlrVm
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