Surprise girl's parents formally charged in her death

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.

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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.

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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.

Surprise police were called to the couple's home, near Greenway Road and Grand Avenue, at about 5:30 p.m. Saturday when Alexandra's uncle found her unresponsive, a police report says.

Officers said Alexandra 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.

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. 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.

Republic columnist Laurie Roberts contributed to this article.