Officials: Dead girl, 3, weighed 15 pounds
PHOENIX — An Arizona couple were arrested on child-abuse allegations after firefighters found their 3-year-old daughter showed signs of being beaten, and weighed only 15 pounds when she was hospitalized, court records say.
The girl, who would have turned 4 this weekend, was pronounced dead at a hospital Saturday. Police said she also showed signs of sexual abuse. Paste BN does not name victims of sexual abuse.
Carlos Cruz, 28, and Rosemary Velazco, 36, of Surprise, Ariz., were each being held on a $500,000 bond after their arrests on suspicion of felony child abuse. The investigation is ongoing.
Police wrote in court documents released Tuesday that Velazco has an "open case file" with the Arizona Department of Child Safety.
Greg McKay, the department's director, said the agency removed an infant from the home in June but had no idea that the girl or her brother, 6, was living there.
"We are trying to see what our department did during the dependency of this other child and if at any time we were aware of anything involving (the girl)," said McKay. "At this point in time, there is no indication from what we've read that anyone ever saw (the 3-year-old) in this home."
The girl and her brother were removed from their parents' home in May 2011 because Velazco tested positive for methamphetamine when the girl was born, according to information released Tuesday by the Department of Child Safety. The parents were reunited with their children in April 2012 after completing substance-abuse and parenting programs. The agency closed the case in July 2012.
Surprise police were called to the couple's home Saturday when the girl's uncle found her unresponsive, records say.
Her brother was unharmed and is now in Department of Child Safety custody.
Police said the girl showed signs of "extreme malnourishment" and had injuries all over her body "in various stages of healing," including a forehead gash that exposed her skull. Her left knee appeared to be broken.
According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention growth charts, the average weight range for a 3-year-old girl is 25 to 38 pounds.
Investigators described it as one of the worst cases of child abuse and neglect they had seen.
The children shared a bedroom with their parents, records say. Investigators said the room's door had a padlock that locked only from the outside. Authorities found a dog collar as well as a small paint can they believed the children used as a toilet, records say.
Velazco told detectives Cruz had a bad temper and would beat the girl with a belt, records say.
She reportedly told investigators that she also hit the girl with a belt, but only on the buttocks.
Contributing: Laurie Roberts, The Arizona Republic.