Return to Transcripts main page
Nancy Grace
New Details in Coronado Children`s Murder; Three Missing Children; Minivan Murder Mom Gets Custody of Newborn; Mom Knocks 3-year-old Girl`s Teeth Out
Aired May 22, 2014 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Breaking news tonight, live, Torrance, California. A young dad of three, outside working on the car, comes in to find his three little daughters dead in bed, with Mommy clutching a knife.
Bombshell tonight. At this hour, we are standing by. At any moment, mom of three Carol Coronado set to be released from the hospital, heading with armed guards to the jail, where three counts of murder one await her.
This as new details emerging. In the last hours, the father of the three little girls breaks his silence, insisting his wife was, quote, "like a demon possessed."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The children`s grandmother said they were dead. They`re gone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) kids.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was naked and holding a knife.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) a blank stare, blood smeared all over her face and arms and legs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three young children dead inside.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, not one, not two, but three missing. First, to Sunrise, Florida, a 2-year-old little girl snatched from the home. Was 2- year-old little Lilly kidnapped after a fight about vaccinations?
Then, Ohio, a U.C. student vanishes looking for his lost cell phone. Where`s Brogan?
And Topsham, Maine, a boy vanishing from his own neighborhood. The search for Matthew.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Missing alert!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s 2-year-old Lilly with a big smile and curly hair and has disappeared, according to police.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A University of Cincinnati student has vanished, and authorities are scouring for answers! We need your help in finding 16- year-old Matthew, 6 feet, 2 inches, last seen wearing a green sweatshirt and cargo shorts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, Mommy, hysterical, calls 911 to report a home invasion and brutal attack, including on her 3-year-old little girl, little Ashley beaten to death, bruises covering her tiny body, her teeth knocked out. But tonight, police say Mommy`s story doesn`t add up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Officers found Ashley Mendoza covered in blood, with trauma to her head and body.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) was allegedly home alone with the child.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was pronounced dead at the scene.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The 3-year-old died of multiple injuries.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And live, Daytona Beach. A 31-year-old mom of three plows her minivan into the ocean as her three little children, ages 3, 9 and 10, all buckled in, trapped in the Honda minivan, screaming, Mommy`s trying to kill us. We have the video.
In the last hours, Mommy gives birth to another child behind bars. Why? Why would a mother who tried to drive her other three children into the ocean to their deaths get custody of a new baby? No!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ebony Wilkerson (ph) drove her minivan into the ocean with her three children inside.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) told them to close their eyes and go to sleep.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s talking about Jesus and that there`s demons in my house.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wilkerson has given birth in custody to a fourth child.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
Bombshell tonight. To Torrance, California, a young dad of three, working outside on the car, comes inside to find his three little daughters dead, in bed with Mommy, Mommy clutching a knife.
At this hour, we are standing by. At any moment, mom of three Carol Coronado set to be released from the hospital, heading with armed guards to jail, where three counts of murder one await her.
This as new details emerging by the minute. The father of three little girls breaks his silence, insisting his wife was not his wife at all, that she was, quote, "like a demon possessed."
Joining me right now, reporter with "The Daily Breeze" Larry Altman. Larry, thank you for being with us. I understand that the mother of three is going to be carried by armed guards from the hospital to the jail. Is that your understanding?
LARRY ALTMAN, "DAILY BREEZE" (via telephone): Yes, my understanding is she`s recovered enough from her wounds to be released from the hospital where she is, to go to either the county jail or to another hospital that has a jail ward.
GRACE: That would be what, County USC (ph) there in East LA?
ALTMAN: County USC, or she`ll go to, you know, one of the jail facilities that have an infirmary.
GRACE: Larry Altman standing by as we wait for the mom of three to be taken by armed guard from the hospital to the jail.
I`m hearing in my ear right now we are being joined by Sandra Coronado, sister-in-law of the mom accused of killing her three daughters, the mom found in the bed with the children, clutching a knife.
With me is Sandra Coronado. Ms. Coronado, thank you for being with us. We are just sick about this, and you and your family and those three children are in our prayers tonight. Ms. Coronado, what was your reaction when you first heard what had happened to your nieces?
SANDRA CORONADO, SISTER-IN-LAW (via telephone): I was distressed. I didn`t -- I couldn`t believe it. It was unbelievable. It was like -- it was a dream that I couldn`t wake up from.
GRACE: You know, it still seems like a bad dream. I`ve spoken to, and of course, am a crime victim -- where you wake up the next morning and you think it`s just been some horrible dream, and then you`re looking around and you realize it`s true. It really happened.
What do you think led up to this, if anything, Sandra?
CORONADO: I don`t know. I had spoken to her that morning. Her mother called me stating that -- for me to call Carol. So I did. I called her and she answered, and I can hear my nieces crying and crying in the background. But you know, that was -- that was -- it happens. (INAUDIBLE) conversations between me and her, and the girls crying. And I asked her, What`s going on? And she would say, Oh, they`re just -- you know, they`re just crying, or they`re hungry, or whatnot.
But that day, I talked to her, I asked her what`s wrong. She said, Nothing. I`m tired. I`m exhausted. And that`s what she said and -- and - - I don`t know what...
GRACE: You know, it`s interesting. You told me, Sandra, that you called her and asked her if anything was wrong. What made you ask that? Why did you suspect something was wrong?
CORONADO: Because it was weird that her mom was calling so early in the morning. It was 8:00 in the (INAUDIBLE) I was taking my kids to school. So I had gotten back, and my son had a fever that day. So I was going to go buy medicine, so it must have been maybe 8:45, 9:00 o`clock when this happened.
And she called -- and it was early. (INAUDIBLE) Why is her mom calling me so early? So like I said, I picked up. And I did as she said. I called - - I called her. I called her, and she sounded calm, like any regular conversation. She was always calm, always, like, Oh, it`s OK, and -- you know, all the time. All the time.
Why -- I just don`t understand why she just didn`t say -- I -- she even told me, Yazzy (ph) has a doctor`s appointment. And I told her, OK, take her to the appointment. Leave me the girls. I`ll watch them for you while you go to the appointment. And nothing. And she didn`t say nothing. She just said, Call your brother and -- she said, Call your brother and calm him down. That`s all she said. I didn`t think (INAUDIBLE) So I called her and I texted her, and no respond, no respond. So I figured, Oh, my brother is watching the girls. (INAUDIBLE)
GRACE: What did you just say, Sandra? With me is the sister-in-law of Carol Coronado. At this hour, we are waiting for her to be transported from the hospital. It was said that she stabbed herself last night. We believed those injuries were serious. Contrary, we have found out that she`s about to be released, where three charges of murder one will await her.
With me, her sister-in-law, Sandra. Sandra, did you say you were calling to calm down your brother, her husband, or her?
CORONADO: She just said, Just call Rudy and calm him down. That`s all she said. But I had asked her, Are you guys arguing? I mean, what`s going on? And she just said, I`m tired, I`m exhausted. That`s all she said. So I just figured, OK, it`s just -- it`s just -- she`s just being her.
GRACE: Did they have a history of arguing? Is that what she was upset about?
CORONADO: No, all he would ask for is for her to cook him a meal. He worked, so all he wanted was a meal from her and for the house to be clean. That`s all he wanted. That`s all he asked for. And she was always saying she was tired and school and everything else, but...
GRACE: Was she in school?
CORONADO: Not that I know of. I know she was doing -- I believe, like, on line, something on line. I don`t know -- I don`t know if it was true. I don`t know.
GRACE: You know what`s interesting, Sandra? Everybody, with me is Carol Coronado`s sister-in-law recounting the events leading up to the father discovering his three little girls, ages 2-and-a-half, 16 months and 2 months old, dead in the bed.
I`m going to go back to the hospital, where we are waiting for the mom of three to be released to the custody of armed guards, who will proceed to take her to the jail.
Disturbing facts are now emerging, Larry Altman, that the mom posed the three bodies?
ALTMAN: Yes. I was told that the children were definitely stabbed when they were awake. So they were not asleep. And then after they were stabbed, I was told she lined them up on the bed neatly, in some sort of positions. So yes, it`s hard to understand what really happened there.
GRACE: So the children were stabbed in their waking hours. They were not asleep. To Dr. Michelle Dupre, medical examiner, forensic pathologist out of Columbia. I think I know the answer to this. Would their wounds demonstrate defensive wounds to show that they were awake? How do the medical examiners know the children were awake when their mom stabbed them?
DR. MICHELLE DUPRE, MEDICAL EXAMINER, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST (via telephone): Yes, Nancy. There may be defensive wounds, wounds on the hands, arms, legs, things of that nature. But also, we`ll look at the actual wounds themselves. Was there something called a vital (ph) reaction? In other words, when we`re injured and our heart`s beating, we still have the blood pumping through our system. If that`s the case, then there`ll be evidence of that during the autopsy.
GRACE: You know, the more we`re hearing about the crime scene -- everybody, we are standing by right now as we wait for Carol Coronado to be released from the hospital. At first, we were told that her self-injuries were extremely serious, possible critical. That is not true. At this moment, she is about to be released and taken by armed guard to the county jail. We don`t know where or how in that jail she`s going to be held, but we do know she is being released from the hospital at any moment.
We are also learning that there was much more planning to this. I was convinced last night that Carol Coronado wasn`t sane at the time she did this, but now we are finding out more and more details that lead us to believe there may have been some pre-planning. We also learned the bodies were posed. That is not unusual in the homicide of children by the mother.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are they alive or dead?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t know. (INAUDIBLE) be safe.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you know what kind of condition they`re in?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I don`t know.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A mother had killed her daughter, their children inside the residence.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hope (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was getting messages from God to kill the boys.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) They`re in heaven. They`re dead.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can`t even describe what I`m going through. I mean, my heart (INAUDIBLE) it just aches so bad! I can`t sleep. I can`t eat. I can`t do anything but think about them!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think she tried to kill us. Oh!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ASHLEY MADRID, NEIGHBOR (VIA TELEPHONE): It sounded like, Oh, my God, a scream. So I looked outside of my window, and I didn`t see anything. I didn`t see anybody, so I continued cleaning. And then my mother-in-law came in crying and said that the children`s grandmother said they were dead, they`re gone.
So I ran outside and I asked the grandmother, you know, Are they OK? And she said, No, they`re in heaven. They`re dead. She said she was going crazy and that she lost it.
And the police came and they brought the father out and he was screaming, She killed my daughters. And then, like, two minutes later, they brought her out in handcuffs. She was naked with no clothes. And she had, like, a comforter wrapped around her, held by police. And I could see the blood smears all over her face and arms and legs. And she was just stone-faced, looking at the floor, like, a blank stare.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: That is Ashley Madrid, the neighbor I spoke with in depth, who witnessed much of what occurred right after the stabbing of the three children.
We are awaiting for this mom of three to be released from the hospital as she heads to jail by armed guard.
To Bethany Marshall, psychoanalyst and author of "Dealmakers." Bethany, a lot of this screams to me screams out insanity. You disagree?
BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOANALYST: Oh, Nancy, Carol is not crazy. She seems very organized and intact in the pictures. She lined the bodies up. The fact is, when she spoke with Sandra, her sister-in-law, she was calm. And then she said that there was a doctor`s appointment later in the morning. I think she was calm because she had already gotten up the courage to kill her children. And she said that there was a doctor`s appointment to throw her sister-in-law off. I think what we probably see is growing animosity towards the children and the husband.
GRACE: Matt Zarrell, what more of the facts do we know right now as we wait for her to leave the hospital?
MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER (via telephone): Yes, Nancy. We`re learning there might be another murder weapon. Cops have confirmed that they recovered a hammer from the home that was in proximity to the bodies. They`re trying to detect (ph) it, to determine if it was used in the killings.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Not one, not two, but three missing. First, Sunrise, Florida, a 2- year-old little girl snatched from the home. Was 2-year-old little Lilly kidnapped after a fight about vaccinations? Then Ohio, a UC student vanishes looking for his lost cell phone. Where is Brogan? And then to Maine, a boy vanishing from his own neighborhood, the search for Matthew.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do fear for my daughter`s life.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two-year-old daughter, Lilly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My daughter deserves to be safe and happy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Brogan Dulle. He was last seen around his own apartment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sixteen-year-old Matthew, cops search with a tracking dog but come up empty.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: First to Jill Ryan, investigative reporter. I understand little Lilly, mother and father living separately, arguing over vaccinations, and then Lilly`s gone?
JILL RYAN, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Yes, Nancy. So what happened is the dad, Robert, indicates he actually went to pick up Lilly for a scheduled visitation, and when he knocked on the door of the apartment where the mom was living with her boyfriend, the boyfriend said, Hey, look, she`s gone. She`s not here anymore...
GRACE: Whoa!
RYAN: Slammed the door in his face...
GRACE: Jill! With me, Jill Ryan from Albuquerque. But right now, I`m hearing in my ear Lilly`s dad has just joined us, Jill. With me is Robert Baumann, Lilly`s father. Also with us, Donna Goldman, the family lawyer.
Robert, thank you for being with us. I understand you guys were not in agreement on how Lilly was going to be raised. She thought that you were going to brainwash the little girl? And all of this arises because you wanted the child to get her vaccinations?
ROBERT BAUMANN, LILLY`S FATHER (via telephone): That is correct.
GRACE: That`s crazy. That`s crazy! You know, another thing is, she is just gone. And in addition to many people believing she`s a wackadoodle for this big anger over vaccinations -- and I was very afraid of vaccinations. I wouldn`t do bundles. I dragged them out over a period of years. But to kidnap your daughter -- Robert, what is your fear tonight?
BAUMANN: My main fear is that, you know, I don`t know where my little girl is. And you know, if she was to get injured or hurt, I really don`t feel like she would go and seek medical attention, especially since she`s already stopped the vaccinations and she`s stopped taking her to the doctor. And just the whole not knowing is what really is my biggest fear.
GRACE: Donna Goldman with us, the attorney for Lilly`s father. Donna, thanks for being with us, joining me out of Plantation. I mean, this mom could be anywhere. And isn`t her boyfriend -- aren`t they part of some kind of a fringe group of some sort?
DONNA GOLDMAN, ATTORNEY FOR ROBERT BAUMANN (via telephone): Yes, Nancy. They participate in the neo-Confederate or Confederate groups, where they march on -- against the government with the Confederate flags. In fact, initially, they dressed the little girl up and would take her out and parade her out, putting a little Confederate flag in her hands.
GRACE: OK. I thought all this was settled back in the 1860s. But apparently, no.
All right. Robert Baumann, that adds a whole `nother wrinkle to the mix. Everybody, please take a look at 3-year-old -- 2-year-old Lilly Everett. Right now, she is believed to be traveling in -- hey, let`s see the car tag please, if we could, the mock-up of the car, as well as the car tag.
Take a look, everybody. Here is Lilly. She`s only 2 years old, 421-MLE. We believe she`s in a silver Saturn. We don`t know right now the condition of her health or safety.
Also, right now, we are now heading to Maine. With me is Chief Christopher Lewis with the Topsham Police Department. What can you tell me about missing Matthew?
CHIEF CHRISTOPHER LEWIS, TOPSHAM POLICE DEPARTMENT (via telephone): Well, right now, what we`re looking at is a 16-year-old boy that we`re very concerned as to his whereabouts, and his father is extremely concerned and upset and would like to find his son.
The only information that we have is we can say at this point there`s nothing that appears to be suspicious or violent in nature. This does appear to be a -- we`re treating it as a runaway juvenile, but we`re treating it as a higher priority case because we feel that we really want to make sure that he is safe and that we find him as soon as possible.
GRACE: Right. With me is Matthew`s father. Matthew is joining us right now, Matthew Plutchak, Sr. Sir, thank you for being with us. What are you...
MATTHEW PLUTCHAK, SR., MISSING BOY`S FATHER (via telephone): You`re welcome.
GRACE: What is your understanding about what happened? How did he go missing? What can you share with us?
PLUTCHAK: Well, Matthew left my house, our house, Tuesday around 10:00 PM, 9:50. He told his sister, my daughter, Brianna (ph), that he was going to go and walk the dog, and then he just left.
GRACE: Oh, dear Lord in heaven! Take a look, everybody. There is a $20,000 reward, tip line 207-443-9711. Take a look at Matthew. He`s 6-2, green sweatshirt, cargo shorts, out to walk the dog. He`s missing. He`s gone. His father, Matthew, Sr., with us tonight, begging for your help. Please take a look at this boy.
And also tonight, everyone, I want you to see a picture of Brogan Dully (ph). Clark, what happened? What happened in his disappearance?
CLARK GOLDBAND, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, Nancy, he`s having a good time with friends out on the town. He hangs out, having fun like students do. But here`s what`s weird. As he`s outside of his apartment, he realizes he loses his cell phone.
Well, he goes back to try to retrieve the cell phone, tries to retrace his steps, but he`s never heard or seen from again, Nancy, no cell phone pings, no bank account activity. He`s truly gone off the grid.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Live, Daytona Beach, a 31-year-old mother of three plows her minivan into the ocean as her three little children ages 3, 9, and 10 all buckled in, trapped in a Honda, screaming, "Mommy`s trying to kill us."
We have the video in the last hours. Mommy gives birth to another child behind bars.
Now why would a mother who tried to drive her other three children into the ocean to their death get custody of a brand new baby? No.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m trying to drive. And I`m trying to stop her.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Ebony Wilkerson drove her minivan into the ocean with her three children inside.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She told them to close their eyes and go to sleep.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The mom who drove her minivan into the Atlantic Ocean with her three kids inside has just become a mother again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: At this hour, we learned the mother, the mother that you are seeing on this video who drives her children screaming, "Mommy is trying to kill us" into the water. She actually tries to block the rescuers. I talked to them. She tried to block them from saving her children.
Now she gets out, you keep watching this video. You`ll see her get out. And she just walks away, leaving her children to be taken out by the undercurrent to the ocean. Take a look. You will see mommy just walking away leaving her children to die.
At this hour, we learned mommy has given birth behind bars.
Why would she get to have the children?
Let me remind everybody that behind bars, she tried to kill the unborn baby, beating herself in the stomach over and over and over.
Unleash the lawyers, Parag Shah and Terance Madden, defense attorney, Atlanta, Georgia.
First of all, Parag Shah, why should she get the baby? She just tried to kill her other three children?
PARAG SHAH, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: She absolutely should be able to keep the baby. For one, there is nothing stronger than a mother`s love. And second, unless there is some reason that they can show that she`s going to endanger this newborn baby, there is no reason for the state to prevent her from keeping the baby.
GRACE: Didn`t you just say, unless there was a reason we could show she would endanger the baby? How about one month ago she tried to abort the baby?
(CROSSTALK)
SHAH: She had her break.
GRACE: OK. And then just before that she tried to kill the other three children, Parag?
SHAH: She had a psychotic break when it came to the three children in the ocean. Now --
GRACE: Well, can you ensure to me she`s not going to have another break?
SHAH: Well, that`s for the experts to determine, whether she is mentally fit to take care of this baby. But right now, there is no evidence to say that she is unfit to take care of this newborn.
GRACE: Terance Madden, what if the mom makes bond? She`s out and alone with the newborn baby. I don`t think that should happen.
TERANCE MADDEN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, first of all, I`m going to agree with Parag on one hand. You have to look back at the break between the incident between the previous three children and her child now. One of the things that we have in the criminal justice system in something called rehabilitation. She was in a mental ward to receive some type of psychotic help, some type of psychological help.
So when that -- when that break happened and she received that help, you cannot say then that she was not somehow --
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Put him up, please.
OK, Terance Madden, you`re telling me what I can`t say and you know what I can say? When you don`t know horse, look at its track record. They`ve already got her trying to kill her other three children, trying to block rescue efforts to save her children. They`ve got her behind bars and she`s trying to beat her baby inside of her stomach and I`m not arguing about pro-life or anti-abortion or any of.
I`m saying she`s tried to kill the baby behind bars. Now why should she get custody of this baby? But hold on, I`ve got something else to add that you may not know about.
Let me go to a special guest joining us, Douglas Krane. His wife Jennifer was killed in a crash in 2007. Why? Because of Miss Wilkerson.
Mr. Krane, thank you for being with us.
DOUGLAS KRANE, WIFE WAS KILLED IN 2007 CRASH CAUSED BY WILKERSON: How are you doing today, ma`am?
GRACE: I am disturbed and upset at the possibility that this woman could get custody and be in sole control of a newborn child, Mr. Krane. I`d like to hear your reaction to the possibility that ocean mom who we`re watching on video right now driving her children into the depths of the ocean to their deaths could get control of her baby.
KRANE: That`s a scary thing to think about. I don`t know how anybody could leave any children with that lady ever again. I don`t know how.
GRACE: Douglas, what happened in the crash with Jennifer?
KRANE: It was the first time that Jennifer and I had put the baby in the car. We had our baby 20 days before that. We were driving up to my mother`s house, you know, just for a nice weekend. And Miss Wilkerson was driving on the same road as us, a little bit quicker. Bouncing in and out of traffic, and somehow she ended up a little bit behind us. She tried to cut in between myself and the car behind me. And she ended up doing like the Phipp`s maneuver that you see on "Cops," she hit me right behind the back tire.
GRACE: Everyone, you`re seeing a shot of Jennifer and her new baby right now. Douglas Krane, husband of Jennifer, father of the baby is joining us. Jennifer died in a crash with ocean mom in 2007.
Excuse me, Douglas, go ahead.
KRANE: Yes. She hit us and we did a couple of 360s. We hit the exit wall and then she kept driving. She kept driving. She drove until her car wouldn`t drive anymore. But just in the state of Florida, if you aren`t more than two miles away, you are not fleeing the scene. So her car didn`t make it the two miles. So she got lucky. She wasn`t considered fleeing.
GRACE: With me also is Meredyth Censullo, Tampa reporter.
Meredyth, thank you for being with us. Wilkerson has had the baby in custody.
MEREDYTH CENSULLO, TAMPA REPORTER: Right.
GRACE: Where is she and where is the baby, Meredyth?
CENSULLO: Well, she`s been in the psych ward at Halifax Health Medical Center for a while now since the incident that you talked about where she was actually punching herself in the stomach. They put here in the psych ward. Her defender, her public defender says that she actually had the baby there in the hospital and remains in the hospital at this point. He won`t say where the baby is.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Mommy hysterical, calls 911 to report a home invasion and a brutal attack, including an attack on her 3-year-old little girl Ashley. Ashley, a child, beaten to death, bruises covering the child`s body, her tiny teeth knocked out. But tonight, police say mommy`s story doesn`t add up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Blood was found at their apartment on Natchez. Splattered in the bathroom and on the crib.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Her death was ruled a homicide.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Ashley has significant injuries to her head, back, hands, legs, and missing teeth. Paternal relatives say they did not see Ashley Mendoza very often. The 3-year-old died of multiple injuries that the Cook County Medical Examiner determined was child abuse.
Juan Gonzalez is her brother-in-law. He tells us, we are all surprised. We all said, wow, we can`t believe it.
Prosecutors say blood was found at their apartment on Natchez, splattered in the bathroom and on the crib. They also say Ashley had significant injuries to her head, back, hands, legs and missing teeth.
Espinoza Perez was allegedly home alone with the child. Her boyfriend was at work. And she was separated from the girl`s father. Relatives of Ashley`s father rarely saw the girl and had been concerned for her safety.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Tonight, when police first talked to mommy, she said there was a brutal attack following a home invasion. That she had been attacked but the attack also included her little girl 3-year-old Ashley. But then, why wasn`t mommy injured as much as the child? What happened in the home invasion? Was anything stolen? Was there forced entry?
All questions police rightfully ask. Then police -- police rightfully ask, but then police honing in on mommy`s story.
Joining me right now general manager at WIMS, Ric Federighi.
Rick, thank you for being with us. What made cops suspicious to start with?
RIC FEDERIGHI, GENERAL MANAGER AND PARTNER, WIMS AM: You know, it was unreal. The way that the call was honed in and according to Cook County prosecutors, Maria Espinoza Perez, 24-year-old stay-at-home mom, brutally beat her 3-year-old daughter to death, after lying to police, telling them that the child stopped breathing following this home invasion.
She waited 20 minutes before she actually called the police after phoning her boyfriend at 8:00. So that was the first thing that I think tipped them off.
GRACE: So she first called the boyfriend.
Hold on, Ric. Ric, general manager, joining us from WIMS. Ashley in Tennessee, hi, Ashley, what`s your question?
ASHLEY, CALLER FROM TENNESSEE: Yes, I was wondering what kind of mother would do that? I mean, I`m a mother and if somebody come in to attack my children, I mean, I`m right there. I mean, they would have to attack me before they attacked my children.
GRACE: Ashley, what screams out at you? Because that`s the exact reaction police are having to her story. What screamed out at you about this? I`m looking at the injuries. That`s what I first noticed, Ashley.
ASHLEY: I mean, if somebody had enough time to, I mean, knock the kid`s teeth out, I mean, really, they`ve had some time. I mean, they had some force on them. I mean, if the mother was there guarding her child, I mean I don`t see how they could do all that. If they let the mother would have been way injured, you know, that little girl wouldn`t have suffered like she did.
You know, it`s just really fishy. I think the mother needs to come clean. I mean, the justice system, I mean, if they can make an example of this mother. Maybe (INAUDIBLE), it wouldn`t be happening as much. I mean, it`s certainly getting ridiculous.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Police were called to the home at about 8:30. Neighbors reported seeing yellow police tape around the house. In the 3300 Block of North Natchez Avenue. Inside officers found Ashley Mendoza covered in blood with trauma to her head and body. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to police and the spokesperson from the Cook County Medical Examiner`s office, authorities remained at the scene for hours, going over the house looking for clues.
Espinoza Perez was in custody while an autopsy was performed. The medical examiner ruled that Ashley died of multiple injuries as a result of child abuse. Her death was ruled a homicide.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers, Parag Shah, defense attorney, author of "The Code." Also with me, Terance Madden, defense attorney out of Atlanta.
First to you, Terance Madden. First thing, look at forensics. This 3- year-old little girl who was beaten to death, her teeth knocked out of her was found dead in the kitchen, in the kitchen. There was no blood. And the child wasn`t bloody. But if you go into the child`s bedroom, you find blood on the crib, on the sheets, on the stuffed teddy bear. That bespeaks of staging the scene.
Now home invaders are not going to take the time to stage the scene. What about that, Terance?
MADDEN: Maybe it wasn`t staged, Nancy. Perhaps the scene was the baby was actually killed in the bedroom and then the baby was being brought out to the kitchen --
GRACE: Please put him up, please.
MADDEN: When the mother is the person who came and scared the person away who she describes as home invading.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: So --
MADDEN: We don`t know --
GRACE: So you`re saying, maybe the baby was killed. Home invaders come in, in order to kill a baby, a 3-year-old baby girl, and then the mom gets the baby out of the bedroom and brings her in the kitchen and call 911?
MADDEN: We don`t know how --
GRACE: Is that your scenario?
MADDEN: We don`t know how the home invader was either alerted or alarmed.
GRACE: Hey, maybe the home invader was (INAUDIBLE).
MADDEN: We don`t know how he was alerted or alarmed. All the blood where the murder actually took place was in the -- was in the bedroom and perhaps he was on the way to the kitchen or drop the baby off when he was really looking for whatever else he was going to be doing in the home.
GRACE: OK. Parag Shah, right now it doesn`t matter what the mother may have said to implicate herself in this. Because we understand defense attorneys are trying to suppress any statement she`s made. The prosecution is going to have to rely on forensic evidence.
Parag Shah, I hear what Terance Madden is saying, but still, there`s a problem of a child`s body from the defense there`s not any blood on the body. The body has been cleaned up, Parag.
SHAH: And that can go towards possibly concealing the death which is a separate crime than actually committing the murder.
GRACE: I don`t even know what to say.
SHAH: Maybe she didn`t understand what to do. And we don`t know why it was cleaned or what happened to make that kind of conclusion right now.
GRACE: So let me just piece these bits together.
Bethany Marshall, what they`re trying to say is, in defense of this woman, is that there was a home invasion. They killed the baby and the mom cleans the baby before she calls her boyfriend, before she calls the 911, Bethany.
MARSHALL: Is it hard for them to believe that this mother was ritualistically torturing and brutalizing this child for months or years? The fact that this mother hated the child, resented the child, was completely out of control and at some point she just went too far. She didn`t premeditate from the standpoint that she did not think up a very good story. She calls the boyfriend then she calls 911 and says that there was a home invasion. I think she`s hastily trying to cover up the fact that she was brutalizing the child and went too far.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Espinoza Perez is scheduled to appear in bond court. She was charged in the death of her 3-year-old daughter, Ashley. Police investigation determined that Espinoza Perez was responsible for the injuries which led to the charge.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight to Stacey Newman. Also on the story.
Stacey, beside the blood aspect here, we`ve got the bed covers, the crib sheet, the stuffed animal bloody in the bedroom. The child, when police get there, the 911 arrives, EMTs, the child is laying in the kitchen clean, of course, all the baby`s teeth are gone. But another issue. What about forced entry? What do those forensics know, Stacey? Do we know whether the windows were kicked in, windows kicked in, anything?
STACEY NEWMAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, that`s part of the problem with mommy`s story. Cops say they found absolutely no evidence of forced entry in this home, Nancy, and there was also blood spatter in the bathroom so you have another room in the house that has blood evidence in this case.
GRACE: You know, I can`t even allow myself to think through what happened to this child. But I do not believe the mother`s story.
Dr. Michelle Dupre, medical examiner joining me out of Columbia. Dr. Dupre, this is going to be a forensics case, all right? How do I prove there was no home invasion, Doctor?
DUPRE: Nancy, we did just exactly what law enforcement did. Look at totality of circumstances. Nothing at the scene indicated that there had been a home invasion or break-in of any kind. We look where the evidence is, physical evidence. Where are the blood stains? Look at the blood spatter. What can that tell us? That can tell us many things. Look at everything at that scene and determine exactly what they did. It was not a home invasion.
GRACE: We know blood spatter can only happen within a certain circumference from the actual infliction of the wound. That`s going to tell us a lot. That blood spatter in the bathroom, forensics in the bedroom. And is there a forced entry? Also, why did the mom call the boyfriend first and why did she wait 20 minutes after the home invasion?
You know what, I want justice for this little girl, and if she died in the hands of her mother, the mother needs to go behind bars for the rest of her life or face the death penalty.
Let`s stop and remember American hero Marine Lance Corporal Alberto Franciscani, just 21, the Bronx. Purple Heart, National Defense Service medal. Street named in his honor. Dreamed of becoming a pilot. Mother Minerva. Three brothers. Widow, Cynthia.
Alberto Franciscani, American hero.
Drew up next. I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. Until then, good night, friend.
END
