Arizona Mother Drowns Baby And Blames Death On Toddler’s Sibling, Police Say

A Phoenix mother is accused of allowing her baby to drown and blaming the death on her toddler daughter. The Arizona father of a 1-year-old baby girl who was drowned in a bathtub has come out in support of the infant’s mother. Brenda Ramirez, 21, was arrested on child abuse charges for the death of her baby Melani.

Brenda Ramirez was charged with two counts of felony child abuse after Melani was found dead in the bathtub. Miguel Contreras, the father of the 1-year-old, claims his girlfriend loved their two daughters. After discovering the baby in the bathtub, the mother reportedly sent a text message to a friend which read, “Dude i think [V2] drowned [V1].” The “V” represent minor children’s names as they were noted in the police report.

Ramirez followed up with a second text which said, “Shes not breathing,” followed by four crying emoticons. The friend then thought to call 911 to try and get help for the baby. Ramirez reportedly deleted the texts from her phone and could not explain to the police why she had done so.

During questioning, the police report indicates that the mother of the drowning victim said, “This sucks, but oh well, you have to move on.”

When asked what she meant, Ramirez reportedly said that she was not referring to her dead baby but was talking about money. Exactly what “money” she was referencing remains unclear.

“We all loved each other, we love each other, you know, we would never harm each other,” Miguel Contreras stated during an interview with Fox 10 Phoenix News. “She [baby Melani] was the most loving little girl in the world, her eyes will forever be in my memory. The things that are being said, obviously people are free to comment, but I just want them to know that she [Ramirez] is the best person in the world.”

Baby Melani [news reports do not indicate if the baby had her mother’s or her father’s last name] drowned on Saturday morning in her Peoria apartment. Arizona police reports indicate that Brenda Ramirez initially blamed the death on her 3-year-old daughter. The mother reportedly stated that the toddler must have pushed the baby under water. She first told police that the bathtub only had three inches of water in it when she walked away. When she returned about two minutes later, the tub had significantly more water in it.

She claimed that she left the baby and the toddler alone to get some pajamas and then she came back. It was this point she saw her older daughter holding Melani under the water. First responders attempted CPR, but Melani was declared dead at a local hospital shortly after she was placed in the ambulance. The toddler girl has been removed from the home and placed in the custody of the state. When investigators asked why her clothing was not wet from getting the children out of the tub or trying to rescue the baby, Ramirez did not have an answer.

Arizona police stated that Brenda Ramirez “changed her story” multiple times after the death of Melani. The law enforcement officials also noted that the mother said she “felt guilty” about what had happened. A representative from the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office said that Ramirez had been granted bond and released from jail on Tuesday.

Ramirez also claimed that the drowning death of the baby would not have happened if Miguel Contreras had not been arrested several hours earlier. The Arizona father had been spotted standing on a ladder attempting to get into an apartment bedroom window while holding two guns, ABC 15 Arizona reports. The couple had gotten into a physical altercation, and Ramirez reportedly locked the father of her children out of the home. He was arrested and booked on disorderly conduct charges.

[Images via: Facebook, Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, Shutterstock.com]