(Mar. 9, 4:44 p.m.) A child whose life began with the hardship of drugs died Sunday after being shaken severely in an alleged incident of domestic violence.
Conyers Police arrested Yaneth DeLaCruz Alvarez, 21, and her boyfriend, Raul Solis, 20, on Tuesday for the death of her 3-year old daughter Edna Figueroa. Solis was charged with murder and cruelty to children in the first degree, and Alvarez was charged with cruelty to children in the second degree.
At a press conference on Wednesday, Conyers Police Chief Gene Wilson described how Edna and her three siblings – 1, 5, and 6 years old – were reportedly active and noisy that rainy Saturday morning at 1162 Oak Villas Court. Alvarez, their mother, was downstairs and did not check on the children during the four hour period.
At one point in the morning, Edna reportedly went into Solis’s room and angered him. “That’s when the incident happened,” said Wilson.
Alvarez and Solis reportedly discovered Edna lying unresponsive and rushed her to Rockdale Medical Center’s emergency room, where she was found to have an extensive brain hemorrhage and difficulty breathing. She was rushed to Egleston Children’s Hospital and put on life support. She was reportedly determined to be brain dead and taken off life support Sunday.
An autopsy later concluded that she had been shaken severely and struck with something on the top of her head.
“It’s almost a classic case,” said Wilson.
Alvarez and Solis were placed under arrest on Tuesday and are in custody at the Rockdale County Jail. Wilson said there were no drugs found in the house when police placed them under arrest.
Solis had admitted to being arrested for human trafficking in Texas and social security fraud in Newton County, said Wilson, but did not have known prior history of violent or felony convictions. He did have a U.S. birth certificate, said Wilson. Alvarez was reportedly not documented and in the county illegally.
The other children will be put in the custody of the child protective services in Texas. Edna and her siblings were from Texas and living with their mother in Georgia on a probationary basis since January.
Alvarez had had her children taken away from her in Texas when she tested positive for cocaine. When Edna was born, both mother and child also tested positive for cocaine. When Alvarez moved to Georgia about a year and a half ago, she met and had a child with Solis.
Edna would have turned 4-years-old on March 17.
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(Mar. 9, 2:01 p.m.) Conyers Police arrested Yaneth DeLaCruz Alvarez (21), and her boyfriend, Raul Solis (20), on Tues. March 8 for the death of her three year old child Edna Figueroa. Solis was charged with murder and cruelty to children in the first degree, and Alvarez was charged with cruelty to children in the second degree.
On Sat., March 5, the couple brought the child to the Rockdale Medical Center Emergency Room. The child was unconscious, unresponsive and having difficulty breathing. Upon examination, the child was found to be suffering from extensive brain hemorrhaging. However, the couple could provide not clear a explanation as to the cause of the injuries. The child was rushed to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston, where she later died from her injuries on Sunday.
An investigation determined that the child's injuries were caused by shaking and impacts her head. Solis later made admissions to shaking the child while she was misbehaving. The charge on Alvarez are the result of her failure to supervise her child, which contributed to the child's death.
