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Thread: Death Penalty Trial Set for Carlos Tercero Cruz in 2015 AZ Murder of 3-Year-Old Alexandra Velazco Torsetto

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    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    Death Penalty Trial Set for Carlos Tercero Cruz in 2015 AZ Murder of 3-Year-Old Alexandra Velazco Torsetto


    Alexandra Velazco Tercerro (left) was 3 when she died weighing just 16 lbs.


    Carlos T. Cruz and Rosemary Velazco


    Surprise couple arrested after 3-year-old daughter found dead

    SURPRISE, AZ - Surprise police said they were called at about 5:30 p.m. Saturday by a man who said his 3-year-old niece was not responsive at their home, in the area of Greenway Road and Grand Avenue.

    Paramedics took the girl, Alexandra Velazco Torsetto, to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Police said Alexandra sustained injuries throughout her body, including bruising, signs of sexual abuse, a near 1-inch laceration on her forehead that exposed her skull, and a discolored and swollen left knee. Police say some of her bruises were consistent with a dog collar and a spoon found inside the home.

    Alexandra also showed signs of extreme malnourishment, and weighed just 15 pounds when she was taken to the hospital.

    Police arrested 28-year-old Carlos T. Cruz and 36-year-old Rosemary Velazco and booked them into the Maricopa County Jail on Sunday on one count each of felony child abuse. Surprise police said more charges could be filed.

    Investigators said Velazco told them her husband suffered from anger issues and would use a belt to repeatedly whip the girl and her 6-year-old brother. Velazco said she also would use the belt, but would "measure her strength" so as to not strike her daughter too hard to knock her to the ground.

    Officers served a search warrant and found a small paint can that appeared to be used as a toilet by the children, and the victim's bed that was a 2-foot-by-2-foot wobbly wood structure made from eight pieces of wood.

    Officers said the girl and her brother shared a bedroom with their parents.

    The bedroom door had no handle, but did have a padlock about 43 inches from the floor that could be locked and opened only from the outside. They said they also found keys to the padlock suspended by a rope about 6 feet off the floor.

    Officers said there was little food in the refrigerator, but the freezer contained beer.

    http://www.kpho.com/story/29157952/s...medium=twitter
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Jailed father denies molesting, beating 3-year-old daughter to death

    SURPRISE, AZ (KPHO/KTVK) - A little girl from Surprise is dead after police said she was beaten, molested, and starved.

    Investigators said 3-year old Alexandra weighed just 15 pounds when she was taken to the hospital.

    According to court documents: "detectives found very little food in the refrigerator.” But, they say, “the freezer contained beer."

    Her parents, Carlos Cruz and Rosemary Velazco, have been arrested, and we've learned they've been under investigation by the Department of Child Safety twice, including one open case.

    Cruz denies abusing his 3-year-old girl.

    He said he would never hurt his children.

    He decided to talk from jail because he said he wanted to set the record straight.

    “You never abused her?" he was asked.

    “No. How can you believe that, ma'am? She's my blood. She's my daughter,” Cruz said. “I love my kids more than my life."

    Cruz repeatedly denied molesting or abusing his daughter.

    “I'm not guilty of what they're investigating,” he said. “My conscience is clean. My conscience is clean."

    He did admit one thing:

    “You never hit your daughter?” he was asked.

    "Yes. I would hit her,” he said. “I can't say I didn't. I would hit her, but not to the point of killing her; two on the behind or one with a belt; the normal.”

    But he said the bruises and lacerations on her body when she died were from playing with her 6-year-old brother.

    She reportedly had bruising all over her body, and lacerations, including one that exposed her skull.

    “I was told by investigators … this is one of the worst cases of child abuse and neglect they have seen in their career," said Lt. Bert Anzini with Surprise Police Department.

    Alexandra reportedly weighed what a typical 5-month-old weighs.

    "She only weighed 15 pounds," Cruz was told.

    "Because she ate very little," he responded.

    When confronted with the fact he never took his daughter to a hospital, he said, "Because people think I'm crazy. People think I'm crazy when I talk to them.”

    Cruz said it was also because he was afraid the Arizona Department of Child Safety would take her away again.

    DCS said that in 2011, Alexandra was removed from the home when she and her mother tested positive for amphetamines at her birth.

    DCS said there was also another investigation in June 2014 for another child, an infant, who was removed from the home for neglect.

    Cruz said that when the infant in 2014 was removed, he actually told DCS that Alexandra and the 6-year-old were living in Mexico with family, but he said that wasn't true.

    DCS said all indications were that they were in Mexico.

    Cruz said he hopes at some point, he can put the allegations behind him, and take back custody of his two remaining children.

    http://www.kpho.com/story/29162949/j...ce=twitterfeed
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Edited:

    Surprise girl's parents formally charged in her death


    Matthew Casey
    The Republic

    A Surprise couple have been charged with first-degree murder in the death of their 3-year-old daughter, who weighed 15 pounds when she was hospitalized, a Maricopa County Attorney's Office spokesman says.

    Carlos Cruz and Rosemary Velazco were charged Wednesday, said Jerry Cobb, a spokesman for the county attorney. They were arrested Saturday on suspicion of child abuse.

    Investigators said Alexandra Velazco-Tercerro showed signs of physical and sexual abuse when she was hospitalized before her death on Saturday.

    State child-welfare investigators removed Alexandra and her older brother from the home of Cruz and Velazco in 2011. The kids came back to live with their parents in 2012, and the child-welfare agency closed their case.

    State officials also said Wednesday that Arizona Department of Child Safety investigators removed an infant from the home in 2014. However, when those investigators asked about Alexandra and other kids living in the home, Velazco and Cruz said their other children were out of the country.

    Alexandra was pronounced dead Saturday after paramedics took her to a hospital, where doctors found extensive signs of abuse in addition to her unhealthy weight, court records say. She would have turned 4 on May 30.

    U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement began deportation proceedings against Cruz in March 2012, according to Yasmeen Pitts O'Keefe, an agency spokeswoman. Cruz posted a $3,000 bond and was released after about three weeks in custody.

    ICE places a top priority on deporting people considered threats to national security, the border and public safety.
    The agency's second priority is dealing with people convicted of significant misdemeanors or who have abused visa programs. Its third priority involves those issued final removal orders and who are ineligible for asylum or other relief.

    Police investigators said Monday that Alexandra and her sibling were kept locked in a room at their Surprise home, but state child-welfare workers had no reason to believe the girl and her sibling were in the country when they visited Cruz and Velazco last year, said Doug Nick, a DCS spokesman.

    "Whether that was true or not, there is every reason to believe the parents gave the appearance those kids were not there," Nick said.

    The infant was removed from the home because of a neglect allegation, Nick said. That case had "nothing to do with Alexandra," he said.

    DCS Director Greg McKay told The Republic on Tuesday that there is "no indication from what we've read that anyone ever saw Alexandra in this home."

    Nick said DCS did "normal follow-up" on the case involving Alexandra's younger sibling. But because that allegation did not involve Alexandra or her older brother, DCS had no basis to verify whether the parents' claim was true, he said.

    The infant and Alexandra's older brother are in foster care.

    Cruz, 28, and Velazco, 36, were each being held on a $500,000 bond following their arrests on suspicion of felony child abuse.

    State child-welfare workers removed Alexandra and her brother from their parents' home in May 2011 because Velazco tested positive for methamphetamine when the girl was born, according to information released Tuesday by DCS. 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.

    http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/...abrk/28020225/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Prosecutors could seek death penalty in Surprise girl's death

    By Mathew Casey
    The Republic

    Prosecutors could seek the death penalty against a Surprise couple accused of killing their 3-year-old daughter who police said had an exposed skull, a broken knee and weighed 15 pounds when she died a week before her 4th birthday, Maricopa County

    Attorney Bill Montgomery said during a Thursday press conference.

    "In general, the circumstances of this death do fit within the parameters of the death penalty review," Montgomery said. "Whether or not the decision to file the death penalty is made, there is still additional review that has to be done."

    Days after Surprise police arrested Carlos T. Cruz and Rosemary Velazco on suspicion of felony child abuse, Montgomery's office announced first-degree murder charges had also been filed against the couple for their roles in the death of Alexandra Velazco-Tercerro.

    Cruz, 28, and Velazco, 36, continue to be held in a Maricopa County jail on a $500,000 bond each. They have declined requests to be interviewed by The Arizona Republic.

    Montgomery said he was unsure whether his office has received the Medical Examiner's report on Alexandra, but prosecutors are reviewing the case and he expected to make an announcement on it soon.

    Velazco's brother on May 23 called Surprise police to the family's home near Greenway Road and Grand Avenue because Alexandra was unresponsive, court records show.

    Montgomery said Thursday that "it's a possibility" the brother could also face charges, but prosecutors would likely take into account his decision to call police.

    Investigators who responded to the home described it as one of the worst cases of child abuse and neglect they had seen.

    Alexandra and her older brother shared a bedroom with their parents, records say. The room's door had a padlock that locked only from the outside, investigators said. Authorities found a dog collar as well as a small paint can they believe the children used as a toilet, records say.

    Velazco told detectives Cruz had a bad temper and would beat Alexandra with a belt, records say. Police say she told investigators she also hit the girl with a belt, but only on the buttocks.

    http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/...abrk/28484843/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    Parents of 3-year-old girl plead not guilty to murder, abuse

    PHOENIX (AP) — The parents of a 3-year-old Arizona girl who weighed just 15 pounds when she died have pleaded not guilty to murder and child abuse charges in a case that has renewed scrutiny of Arizona’s child protection system.

    Thirty-six-year-old Rosemary Velazco and 28-year-old Carlos Cruz entered their pleas Thursday in Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix.

    Their nearly 4-year-old daughter was found dead May 23. A relative had called police to the couple’s home because the girl was unresponsive.

    Police said the girl showed signs of extreme malnourishment and had injuries that included a cut exposing her skull.

    She’d been placed in foster care at birth because she tested positive for methamphetamines but was returned to her parents after they completed substance abuse and parenting classes.

    http://wkrg.com/ap/parents-of-3-year...-murder-abuse/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Senior Member CnCP Legend CharlesMartel's Avatar
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    State to seek death penalty against Surprise couple in daughter's death

    PHOENIX - State prosecutors will seek the death penalty against two Surprise parents in connection with the death of the couple’s three-year-old daughter.

    The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office Friday filed its intent to seek the death penalty against Carlos Cruz and Rosemary Velazco.

    Cruz and Velazco’s 3-year-old daughter died in late May; she weighed 15 pounds, “showing signs of extreme malnourishment,” according to court documents.

    A cause of death has not been disclosed. The medical examiner’s report has not been finalized, according to the prosecution’s filing.

    At the time of her death, the victim’s injuries included “bruising throughout her body… [and] large lacerations to her forehead exposing her skull,” according to court documents.

    Each parent “committed the offense in an especially heinous, cruel, or depraved manner,” according to the prosecution’s death penalty filing.

    Neither Cruz’ nor Velazco’s attorney could immediately be reached Friday night.

    http://www.yourwestvalley.com/surpri...7251e72c7.html

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    Roberts: How 3-year-old Alexandra slipped by DCS and into her grave

    By Laurie Roberts
    azcentral.com

    It’s horrifying to think what life must have been like for a little girl named Alexandra, so hungry that she ate cockroaches off the floor. So beaten up that a piece of her skull showed through her forehead.

    Alexandra Velazco Tercerro died last year, just a week before her fourth birthday.

    Died, after the state Department of Child Safety had taken custody of her younger sister -- having been assured by the children’s mother that Alexandra and her brother were someplace safe.

    For a year, I’ve wondered just how far DCS went to verify the story told by Alexandra’s mother, a woman who had repeatedly lied about her drug use.

    DCS assures me that the agency did its job.

    “Clearly, DCS made several attempts to ascertain the whereabouts of the children,” a department spokesman told me. "And it bears repeating that the parents went as far as to defy the court when ordered to produce information as to their whereabouts."

    How DCS failed this child


    Clearly, it's also worth noting that when the parents defied the court, nobody did a thing about it.

    A year after Alexandra’s death, after finally getting to read the DCS records in this case, the only thing that seems clear to me is that the agency failed this child.

    Maybe you remember Alexandra's story.

    How she was born in May 2011 with methamphetamine in her system. How she and her brother were taken away from their parents, Rosemary Velazco and Carlos Tercerro Cruz, but were returned 11 months later.

    How two years later, in June 2014, Rosemary gave birth to another meth-exposed baby, who was taken away and put into foster care. How Alexandra and her brother were supposed to be taken, too.

    But they were nowhere to be found.

    Did anyone call the consulate?


    “Mother’s other two children are in Mexico right now with their (redacted) but will return soon,” the caseworker noted on June 27, 2014, shortly after the baby’s birth.

    The children’s whereabouts came up during a July 1, 2014, DCS meeting and again in a July 11, 2014, progress report to the court: “Due to the older children being in Mexico for the time being, DCS was not able to assess their safety (and) allowed the

    TCN (temporary custody notice) to expire. The department will continue working on this situation by contacting the Mexican consulate in order to determine what the next steps will be regarding these children.”

    But did anyone make that call?

    ROBERTS: Baby Adalynn died despite 6 reports to DCS

    At a July 14, 2014, court hearing, a judge ordered the parents to provide DCS with an address for the children. However, there’s nothing in the case file to indicate the judge did anything about it when the parents defied the order.

    On Aug. 6, 2014, DCS noted that the children “are still residing in Mexico” and that the parents had not provided contact information.

    On Aug. 14, 2014, the caseworker wrote a “to-do list” with the following notation: “Follow up with Mexican Consulate to ensure other two siblings are safe.”

    Alexandra was never mentioned again


    But there are no case notes documenting that anybody actually made that call – or if somebody did, what happened as a result. This, in an agency that documents everything.

    The only mention is contained in the minutes summarizing a case manager’s comments at a Dec. 10, 2014, Foster Care Review Board meeting. “She has made contact with the consulate in the country in which the biological mother’s oldest children reside.”

    In a Jan. 21, 2015, report to the court, DCS again notes “The older children are stated to reside in Mexico.”

    By that time, DCS was working on severing the parents’ rights to the baby, given their refusal to take drug tests and participate in other services.

    ROBERTS: DCS was called how many times to this boy's house?

    As for Alexandra, she was never again mentioned in the DCS file – other than the cut-and-paste “in Mexico for the time being” status that investigators reported month after month.

    Until May 23, 2015, that is. On that day, Surprise police were called to the parents' home after Alexandra's uncle found her unresponsive.

    She was dead by the time paramedics could get her to the hospital.

    Actually, the kids were here all along


    Alexandra had injuries or scars to most every part of her body, including a forehead gash so deep that it exposed her skull. She weighed just 16 pounds.

    Police said the home was crawling with cockroaches and the bedroom had a padlock on the door, along with a paint can that police believe the children used as a toilet.

    Alexandra’s brother would later tell authorities that he watched his sister eating cockroaches off the floor.

    Turns out the children had been there all along.

    “Rosemary said she would take the kids to (a) family member’s house when she knew DCS was coming,” police wrote. “Rosemary admitted the kids have never been to Mexico.”

    One would think DCS might have known that, had it contacted the consulate the previous year. Or that if DCS couldn’t get confirmation, that the agency might have called the police to get help in finding the children.

    Why didn't DCS show up unannounced?


    Or maybe even showed up unannounced at the house, where DCS might have found that the parents were high and the kids were right there all along.

    According to a summary of the case by a psychologist -- brought in by DCS to consult on whether to pursue severance after Alexandra’s death -- DCS never took any action.

    “There was no additional follow-up with regard to Alexandra and (her brother) nor was contact made with the Mexican Consulate to locate the children,’’ she wrote.

    For 11 months, the parents were able to hide Alexandra from DCS and a Superior Court juvenile judge, who apparently wasn’t prepared to back up her court order with actual consequences for ignoring it.

    For 11 months, that child suffered right under DCS’s nose.

    Whether DCS didn’t look for those children or didn’t look hard enough, the fallout is the same.

    Alexandra never made it to the ripe old age of 4.

    Postscript: DCS won’t say what has happened to the other two children. Actually other three children, as Rosemary was pregnant (and yes, on meth) when she was arrested, records indicate. The parents are in jail awaiting trial for murder and prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

    Meanwhile, "A communication was sent to all DCS staff reinforcing the use of the Office of Child Welfare Investigations (OCWI) as a resource for additional assistance when it appears a child is missing, unsafe or information about the child's whereabouts is being withheld."

    The "communication" was sent out on June 29, 2015 -- 37 days after Alexandra died.

    http://www.azcentral.com/story/opini...rave/89419664/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Mom sentenced to life in prison in death of 3-year-old Surprise girl

    By Victor Ren
    The Arizona Republic

    A woman was sentenced to life in prison on Friday for first-degree murder in the death of her 3-year-old daughter, court officials said.

    Rosemary Velazco was arrested in 2015 after firefighters found her daughter beaten and malnourished in Surprise.

    The girl, Alexandra Velazco, was pronounced dead after being taken to the hospital, weighing 15 pounds at the time of her death, police said.

    Alexandra's body showed signs of "extreme malnourishment" and had a forehead gash that exposed her skull when she was found, police said.

    Police said Alexandra's body also showed signs of sexual abuse.

    Carlos Cruz was Velazco's partner at the time. He also was arrested and charged in the girl's death. His case is pending in Maricopa County Superior Court.

    Investigators said this was one of the worst cases of child neglect and abuse they had seen.

    According to a prior report, the state Department of Child Services had already removed an infant from Velazco's home, but they had no idea Alexandra or her brother was living there.

    Alexandra and her brother were also removed from their parents' home in 2011 after Velazco tested positive for methamphetamine, but were reunited in 2012, according to a prior report from the DCS.

    Investigators said the children had shared a bedroom with their parents, and the room had a padlock that could only be unlocked from the outside.

    https://www.azcentral.com/story/news...rl/1071087001/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  9. #9
    Senior Member CnCP Legend Mastro Titta's Avatar
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    Carlos Cruz's jury trial will start on October 25th, 2022. The State of Arizona is seeking the death penalty in this case.

    https://apps.supremecourt.az.gov/pub...aselookup.aspx

  10. #10
    Moderator Bobsicles's Avatar
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    New trial date set for June 3, 2024

    https://www.superiorcourt.maricopa.g...=CR2015-123744
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