A North Carolina mother has been arrested after she killed her 4-year-old twin sons.

Genevieve Ellen Springer, 44, was arrested Saturday, March 2, and charged with two counts of first-degree murder after the bodies of her twin sons were found by their father when he came to the house to take the boys over the weekend, authorities say. 

Emergency officials had been called to Springer’s home in the town of Murphy east of Chattanooga around 10 a.m. Saturday when the boys’ father — who is separated from their mother — arrived and found both boys deceased, officials said. 

The father, who called 911 after arriving at his estranged wife’s home, was looking to “exercise custody” over the twins, the sheriff’s office said.

Springer was briefly hospitalized before being discharged and arrested. She is being held without bond at the Cherokee County Detention Center.

The date and time of death for the boys is under investigation, authorities said. 

Their father last saw his sons alive Feb. 26. Investigators are looking to determine exactly when between then and Saturday they were killed, with the sheriff’s office saying it is “hopeful that autopsies will narrow down the date and time of the twins’ passing.

“In the wake of this tragedy Sheriff Dustin D. Smith is asking for prayers for the victims’ family, friends and all the first responders involved,” the sheriff’s department wrote on Facebook.

“Sheriff Smith would like to remind our County that our children are our most precious resource and our hope for the future. We all must stand united for their protection and for justice.” 

Springer is expected to appear in court Thursday, March 7.