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.
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