ORANGEBURG, S.C. — A South Carolina mother accused of suffocating her two young sons and driving her car into a river trying to cover up their deaths was denied bond Monday, after prosecutors argued she could still pose a threat to her only surviving child.

Her attorneys had portrayed 29-year-old Shaquan Duley as a good mother who, after years of a deep depression caused in part by the lack of contact with her children’s father, intended to die along with her sons.

Duley was charged with two counts of murder after divers pulled the bodies of 2-year-old Devean Duley and 18-month-old Ja’van Duley from the North Edisto River on Aug. 16.

Investigators said Duley confessed to smothering the boys after a fight with her own mother, who Duley said badgered her about her failures as a parent and inability to provide for her family.

After that argument, Duley fled with her sons, driving first to her father’s house before checking into a motel in Orangeburg. In a corner room, authorities say Duley held her hands over her sons’ mouths, leaving bruises and cuts on their throats.

Duley then strapped her sons’ lifeless bodies into their car seats and drove to a boat landing some 10 miles away. Prosecutors said Duley drove the car into the water, climbed out and walked down a country road for about a mile until a motorist stopped and called 911 for her.

Duley told troopers she had been going to her father’s home and fell asleep at the wheel, Solicitor David Pascoe said.

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