PHOENIX – Police say a woman has been arrested after she admitted to killing her three children at a South Phoenix home Monday night, and reportedly singing to them as she did so.
According to Sgt. Mercedes Fortune, crews were called out to the home about at around 7:30 p.m. A relative called 911, and when officers entered, a three-year-old boy, a two-year-old girl, and a seven-month-old girl were found unconscious, Fox 10 reported.
Police say Rachel Henry, 22, admitted to killing the children. The woman who recently moved from Oklahoma to Arizona has been booked on three counts of first degree murder.
“We are comfortable in saying now that the mother is responsible for the death of the children,” Sgt. Fortune said.
Police interviewed the 30-year-old father and a 49-year-old relative who lives in the home, according to authorities. There was no obvious trauma to the children, and relatives indicated illness may have been a factor, police said. But the investigation revealed something altogether different.
After reportedly killing her three children, Henry “placed all of the children in a position on the living room couch as if they were taking a nap,” according to court documents released Tuesday evening.
Earlier, the Arizona mother reportedly sang to each of them as she suffocated them — even to the 3-year-old son who yelled “No!” as the mother killed his 1-year sister, FOX 10 of Phoenix reported.
Henry first placed her hand over her 1-year-old daughter’s mouth until she stopped breathing, Phoenix police said, according to the station.
“Rachel knew she killed the 1-year-old female when she stopped kicking,” a Phoenix police officer wrote, according to The Arizona Republic.
While she was killing the 1-year-old, her 3-year-old son screamed and hit her to try to stop her, FOX 10 reported.
She left the baby’s body in a back bedroom and chased the 3-year-old until her aunt and the children’s father came to the house. They played with the children for a bit and Henry took the 3-year-old into the bedroom under the pretense of changing his underwear, The Republic reported.
She reportedly placed the boy on the floor, straddled him and smothered him with her hands until he stopped struggling.
“Rachel described singing to the 3-year-old as he scratched her chest and pinched her,” the police report said, according to The Republic.
She then reportedly fed the 7-month-old, waited until she fell asleep and smothered her while relatives were in another room.
Family members said Henry has a history of methamphetamine use and had been acting “strangely” lately.
Meanwhile, neighbors are speaking out.
“I would see her very nervous but because I didn’t know who the mom was or who the dad was. We didn’t know. I only saw the girl. She would stare at us like very very nervously. She would cry,” said Miriam Soto. “Right now we’re trying to process the news. We’re concerned. We don’t know for sure what happened. It’s very sad that all this happened next to my house.”
