Tots found dead in vehicle
A 20-year-old woman is arrested and booked into jail after her 10-month-old daughter and 2-year-old son are found lifeless in a vehicle in Superior.
A 20-year-old woman has been arrested after her two young children were found dead inside a vehicle Monday night in Pinal County, officials there say.
The bodies of a 2-year-old boy and 10-month-old girl were found strapped into their car seats in the vehicle outside a residence in the historic mining town of Superior.
Their mother, Brittany Velasquez, made the 911 call, officials said. By the time officers arrived, Velasquez had pulled the children’s lifeless bodies from the vehicle and brought them inside the home, where she attempted to perform CPR.
Evidence at the scene indicated foul play, and investigators were able to establish probable cause for Velasquez’s arrest on suspicion of two counts of first-degree murder, according to the Pinal County Sheriff ’s Office.
Velasquez was being held Tuesday in the Pinal County Jail.
Superior interim police Chief Christian Ensley said at a press conference Tuesday afternoon that Velasquez and her family have been longtime residents of the small community.
“This kind of thing doesn’t happen here,” Ensley said. “It’s a devastating blow. You can go anywhere around here and find people who know that family. It’s not hard to do.”
Ensley said officers had been called to the Velasquez home seven or eight times in recent years.
Twice, reports of potential neglect were filed with the Arizona Department of Child Services.
Both involved the children being left with Velasquez’s mother for extended periods of time.
The DCS confirmed the reports in a statement issued Tuesday.
The first, filed on Oct 6, 2016, alleged that Velasquez’s mother was too old to properly care for a child.
The second stemmed from a 911 call on Jan. 1, 2018, alleging that Velasquez had stolen a fur coat from her worth $3,500, Superior Police Department records show.
As an officer investigated the alleged theft, the woman also complained that Velasquez often left the house for days at a time without taking her children, the report said. The family member told the officer that it was “difficult for her to walk and get around the house.”
The officer called the DCS with concerns and “the issue of the (redacted) having difficulties caring for the children.”
The DCS official on the line told the officer she “would not be able to investigate this issue until (redacted) states that she no longer willing to take care of the 2 children,” according to the police report.
Both reports were deemed unsubstantiated and then closed, DCS spokesman Darren DaRonco said in an email to The Republic.
“While there were concerns raised regarding Ms. Velasquez’s previous mental health,” DaRonco said, “no evidence was presented by anyone that indicated mental health issues were impeding Ms. Velasquez’s ability to parent.”
The Sheriff’s Office and Superior Police Department are investigating the children’s deaths.