After a Louisiana boy wandered from home and was killed by an alligator, his mother is now facing criminal charges. Hilda Vaquez, 34, was taken into custody on Sunday, September 7. Two weeks before her arrest, on August 26, the body of her 12-year-old son, Bryan Vasquez, was found. As per a report by ABC News, his body was recovered from a lagoon near the family’s home in New Orleans.
Hilda was then charged with second-degree cruelty to a juvenile and negligent homicide. Bryan was born with a neurodevelopmental disorder and did not understand Spanish or English. The last time he was seen, he was wearing an adult diaper, according to the Louisiana State Police’s press release.
Vasquez also has three other children, including a newborn, and according to police on Sunday, she has a history of negligence. “There has been a pattern of both negligence and abuse over Bryan’s 12 years,” Deputy Superintendent Nicholas Gernon said during a press briefing on Sunday. “We believe that we can prove that that pattern of negligence and abuse led to severe… undue pain and suffering on his part.”
When Bryan was just 3 months old, he was rushed to the hospital for broken legs, a fractured skull, and a collapsed lung, claimed Gernon, as per ABC News and WWL-TV. When Vasquez was asked about the injuries, she claimed to have no idea how Bryan sustained the injuries.
Bryan was removed from his mother’s care, but the Louisiana Department of Children & Family Services allowed him to be placed back in the home at some point, per Gernon.
🚨 NOPD arrests Hilda Vasquez in the death of her 12-year-old son Bryan, who drowned with blunt trauma consistent with an alligator attack.https://t.co/YAxsJZyPmt pic.twitter.com/1XL6pYXGBH
— WWL-TV (@WWLTV) September 7, 2025
Authorities reported that Bryan was missing from his home after he climbed out of his bedroom window. He left his home at around 10 a.m. on August 14, but the police did not respond until 3 p.m., according to WVUE.
According to the Times-Picayune, his family had moved recently to a different neighborhood, and Bryan had tried to escape multiple times. Even after several instances, his mother did not bother to put security measures.
I uncovered court documents detailing a troubling past for Hilda Vasquez, 34, the mother of Bryan Vasquez, a 12-year-old nonverbal boy with autism whose body was recovered this week from a lagoon. https://t.co/VgHCSpQdch pic.twitter.com/7nrqhIz2Il
— AUBRY KILLION (@AubryKWDSU) August 28, 2025
“We had canine dogs, we had drones, we had sonar equipment on boats,” says Trascher, whose team dragged the lagoon over the weekend. “We were kind of perplexed as to why the dogs were hitting this one spot,” he says. “We just couldn’t find anything.”
“I can surmise what happened to him then. I don’t know if he panicked and started splashing and the gator got to him and dragged him off, or if he drowned first,” he said. “I don’t know.”
When asked to the city about Bryan, they said he was an energetic, charismatic, and bright kid. “Bryan’s memory will forever remain in the hearts of those who loved him, and his light will continue to shine as a reminder of resilience, innocence, and love,” officials wrote. “May he rest in God’s eternal peace.”
