NEW YORK - The Latest on the trial of a New York City nanny accused of stabbing two children to death in their Manhattan apartment (all times local):

1:45 p.m.

The mother of two children stabbed by their nanny has testified about the horror of finding her children dead.

Marina Krim wept Thursday as she described the panic of wondering where her children were and the awful silence of a Manhattan apartment usually bustling with three children and a dog.

She said she knew her eldest child was dead immediately because of the vacant look in her eyes.

Krim testified at the first day of Yoselyn Ortega's (YOH'-sih-lihn ohr-TAY'-guhs) trial in New York City.

Ortega's lawyer says she is too mentally ill to have understood what she did. But prosecutors say she knew exactly what was happening when she killed 6-year-old Lucia and 2-year-old Leo on Oct. 25, 2012.

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12:45 p.m.

Prosecutors say the trusted nanny of a well-to-do Manhattan family waited until she was alone with two children, selected two kitchen knives and then led the children to a bathroom where she slaughtered them.

A trial began Thursday for Yoselyn Ortega (YOH'-sih-lihn ohr-TAY'-guh).

A defence lawyer says the slayings were an act of madness. But prosecutors argue that Ortega planned to kill 2-year-old Leo Krim and 6-year-old Lucia Krim in October 2012.

The motive remains unclear and prosecutors say it may never be known.

The children's mother discovered their bodies in the apartment. She's expected to testify.

The killings touched a nerve in the city where thousands of parents rely on nannies to keep their children safe.

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12:05 a.m.

A New York City nanny accused of stabbing two small children to death in the bathroom of their Manhattan apartment is heading to trial.

The trial is slated to begin Thursday for Yoselyn Ortega (YOH'-sih-lihn ohr-TAY'-guh).

She's accused of killing 2-year-old Leo Krim and 6-year-old Lucia Krim in October 2012.

Ortega has pleaded not guilty. Her lawyer is expected to argue that she's not responsible for the crime because she was too mentally ill to understand what she was doing.

The motive remains unclear and prosecutors say it may never be known.

The children's mother discovered their bodies in the apartment. She's expected to testify.

The killings touched a nerve in the city where thousands of parents rely on nannies to keep their children safe.

News from © The Associated Press, 2018