Foster parent arrested in deaths of 3-year-old twin sisters found inside car

Foster parent arrested in deaths of twin sisters found inside hot car

A foster parent has been arrested and charged with two counts of second-degree murder after the 3-year-old twins in her care were found dead in a car in South Georgia.

Claudette Foster also faces two counts of second-degree cruelty to children in connection with the deaths of Payton and Raelynn Keyes, the Hinesville Police Department said in a news release.

The Keyes twins were reported missing the morning of Sept. 29, AJC.com previously reported. Later that day, Hinesville police found them unresponsive in a car parked in the backyard of a home in the 200 block of Augusta Way in the Griffin Park subdivision. They were pronounced dead on the scene.

Police began to investigate and removed people from the home. Hinesville officials obtained a search warrant for the residence and called the GBI to assist with the investigation.

An autopsy by the state agency determined the girls' deaths were caused by heatstroke, officials said.

The children's family created a GoFundMe to cover funeral expenses.

Warrants were taken out again Foster, and she turned herself in to Hinesville police Oct. 14.

She is being held in the Liberty County Jail without bond.