ATLANTA — A woman charged with killing four of her young children and their father was due in court this morning, one day after police say she stabbed the five to death and seriously injured another child at a home outside Atlanta.

Authorities in Georgia charged 33-year-old Isabel Martinez on Thursday with five counts of malice murder, five counts of murder and six counts of aggravated assault, hours after police said she called 911 to report the killings from the home the family shared.

A fifth child, a 9-year-old girl, survived but remained hospitalized with injuries described by police as serious.

“What prompts a person to take the life of such innocent children and her spouse is something we may never understand,” Gwinnett County police said in a statement. “This is a horrendous crime not only for the victims but for the extended family, neighborhood and community.”

Psychologists and others who study cases of mothers accused of killing their children say it’s not as uncommon as people might believe. But media coverage often focuses on dramatic cases, such as Andrea Yates who was found not guilty by reason of insanity for the 2001 drowning deaths of her five children.

Other cases get less attention, as when a woman kills a newborn or in children’s deaths blamed on neglect, said Cheryl Meyer, co-author of two books on mothers who have killed children.

That amounts to one death every three days. If anything, the total based on media reports at the time underestimates the reality, said Meyer, a psychology professor at Wright State University in Ohio.

In cases when mothers kill intentionally, Meyer said there is often another influence, such as mental health issues, postpartum depression or the loss of a close loved one. Yates’ attorneys, for instance, said she had severe postpartum psychosis at the time she drowned her children, including her 6-month-old daughter.

“We like to classify these women as pariahs, that they aren’t at all like us,” Meyer said. “I found that was not the case.”

Isabel Martinez was “immediately” detained after the bodies were found inside the home in Loganville, Gwinnett County Police Cpl. Michele Pihera told reporters Thursday. Authorities haven’t said if Martinez was injured and or discussed a motive.

“Right now we believe we have everybody involved in this crime,” Pihera said. Pihera confirmed that the 911 call came from a woman who was inside the home at 4:47 a.m. Thursday to report a stabbing. Police believe Martinez made that call.