Thread: Neighbors seek answers in children's deaths

Published November 17, 2006, 9:58 PM CST

ELKHART, Ind. -- A day after authorities arrested an Indiana woman in connection with the deaths of her four children, residents in this town were still searching for answers about the case.

Angelica Alvarez, 27, and the mother of the two girls and two boys, was "arrested based on probable cause," said Bill Wargo, chief criminal investigator with the Elkhart County prosecutor's office. "About all I can say is there have been numerous police calls out to her house during the last year, and they focused on domestic and custody issues. We will know more very soon."

He said formal charges could come early next week.

Neighbors and friends said Alvarez, who spoke only Spanish, had been in the U.S. for about five years. A priest at the parish where Alvarez attended mass and had her two youngest children baptized, said she was struggling with depression. Others described her as lonely.

"She is a wonderful and loving person, but I am not sure she was adjusting to life in this area very well," said Father Wilson Corzo of St. Vincent DePaul Catholic Church in Elkhart, which has a large Hispanic congregation.

"It can be difficult for new immigrants to make that adjustment," he added. "I am praying for her."

Alvarez remained under police custody at Elkhart General Hospital, where she has been undergoing treatment since shortly after she and the children were found on Tuesday night in the basement of their home in this northern Indiana town, known for its RV manufacturing. Autopsies showed the children died of asphyxia, but investigators have released no further details about their deaths.

The victims have been as Jennifer Lopez, 8; Gonzalo Lopez, 6; Daniel Valdez, 4, and Jessica Valdez, 2. Neighbors said that Gonzalo Lopez, the father of the two older children, would often come by to see them, and that in one case about a month ago, police had to be called to end a disturbance between Lopez and Alvarez.

"There's nothing we can do now. I don't hate her," Lopez said Friday. "I say this with all my heart. I only wish her luck because she will need it."

Alvarez is now married to Fernando Valdez, father of the two youngest children. They lived in a single story wood-frame house a in low-income section of Elkhart for about five years.

Jose Cervantes, a neighbor who has been friends with Valdez for three years, said he knew there was friction between Alvarez and the father of her two older children. . Still, he said that he and his family are having a hard time believing it could have played a role in the deaths of the kids.

"It just doesn't make sense," Cervantes said. "Angelica loved those children. She could never have done anything to hurt them."

A neighbor said he observed shouting between Alvarez and Lopez several months ago. A short time later, three squad cars arrived and police had to keep Alvarez and Lopez separated.

"The kids were just lovely," said John Campbell, who lives next door. "Yet, you knew something was wrong between her and the father of the two oldest kids. It spilled out into the street that one time."

Another neighbor said she saw signs that something was wrong. Martha Williams, a neighbor, said she was watching television one recent afternoon when Alvarez rapped on her door.

"When I opened the door, she was just standing there smiling with her two smallest children—one of them was in her arms. She just stood there and started wiping the chocolate off of her baby's face. I thought it was strange. Then she went to the next house."

Williams said Alvarez was saying something, but she couldn't understand it because she doesn't speak Spanish. Up to that point, Williams said, they had never had a conversation that consisted of much more than "hello."

A makeshift memorial to the children has been put together at the family's home, including flowers, teddy bears and other items.

"My letter says, 'Jenny I am so sorry this happened to you,"' said Estela Peden, 6, an elementary school classmate as she left a short handwritten note at the site.

"I told Jenny that I loved her and I feel sad about everything that's happened."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/cust ... 0951.story

"It can be difficult for new immigrants to make that adjustment," he added.

New? I don't consider 5 years new.

You are only an immigrant when you emigrate legally otherwise you are an illegal alien. My understanding is when people emigrate here legally, they have to learn English.

It is not a problem due to adjustment to a new country. For centuries we had people immigrate here from various countries and did not hear anything like that happeining. It is just a sick excuse for them.
Hispanics often have domestic disputes and the men get violent when the woman leaves. They often break their wives restraining orders. This happens to both legal and illegal Hispanics. I don't have to go further than in my own condo complex where the couple below me scream and yell in Spanish and throw furniture and other items around in at 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning. Then I have one in the condo across from me where all the woman can yell in English is call the police.
As for killing kids they don't care. We had a family of Mexicans shot beside the turnpike in Florida. It was drug related and the entire family was killed execution style. There was alos a homcide Miami Dade Police had earlier this year where a woman from Guatamala went into labor while working at a farm. She delivered her baby in a portable bathroom and threw the baby down the toilet. Someone else went to use it after her, saw the baby and informed someone at the farm who notified police. This woman never told anyone she was pregnant but coworkers were suspicious and she ended up being arrested. The sickest part of it is that people are feeling sorry for her and want her to be allowed to remain in the United Staters.
Earlier this year we had a Hispanic woman kill her baby because she claimed it was possessed by the devil.