'The boys are together again': Second son dies a week after mother's drowning attempt, deputies say

TULARE COUNTY, Calif. -- A California family is mourning the loss of two boys after an attempted drowning by their mother, officials said.

"My son lost his two children," Diana Keeland said of her son Jacob Telnas. "I lost my two grandsons who were both so very precious to me."

Just one week after 12-year-old Jackson Telnas was killed, his brother 7-year-old Jacob Ray was taken off of life support at Valley Children's Hospital while surrounded by family.

"They had an hour with Jacob Ray to love up on him, Jacob got a chance to spend time with him and tell him how much he loves him," Keeland said.

She said the only thing bringing her peace is knowing the boys are together again.

Keeland said the pair were inseparable, something seen in a video taken just six months ago of the two boys playing Marco Polo in a pool.

"I'm worried about my son and how he's going to deal with the loss of his two children and at the hand of their mother that makes it 10 times worse," Keeland said.

According to the local officials, Jackson and Jacob Jr. were found unconscious in an irrigation ditch on June 29.

Their mother, 45-year-old Sherri Telnas, was arrested in their deaths.

In a statement of probable cause filed on Tuesday, a sheriff's deputy wrote Sherri Telnas, "said she drowned both her kids because they were possessed by demons."

In 2008, Telnas was charged with criminal endangerment after investigators said she tried to drown then 10-month-old Jackson in a Montana river.

"We're currently in the process of obtaining those court records and turning this over to the District Attorney's Office," said Sgt. Gary Marks.

An autopsy has been scheduled for Jacob Ray. A preliminary hearing for Sherri was set for August 15.