Parole denied in 1993 attempted murder

A suicidal Modesto mother who was convicted of trying to kill her two small daughters in 1993 was denied parole earlier this week after a hearing at Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla, according to a statement from the Stanislaus County district attorney's office.

Kathleen O'Connell, 40, pulled the gas line from behind her stove, hoping to fill the house with deadly gas. A few hours later, because nothing had happened, she turned on a light switch, igniting the gas. O'Connell escaped through a bathroom window.

Her children, ages 2 and 3, were rescued by a neighbor, but had burns on more than 50 percent of their bodies. O'Connell will receive another parole hearing in two years.