Ariz. Mom Allegedly Sang to Kids During Smothering Murders, as Boy, 3, Fought Her to Save Siblings
The Arizona mother accused of killing her three young children sang to them as she killed them, with her oldest child fighting her to save his little sister, say police.
Rachel Henry, 22, of Phoenix, was arrested and charged with three counts of first-degree murder after allegedly killing her children, aged 3 years; almost 2 years; and 7 months, on Monday night, the City of Phoenix Police Department says in a statement.
Henry allegedly confessed to killing son Zane Henry, 3, and daughters Miraya Henry, almost 2, and Catalaya Rios, 7 months, say police.
A recently released police report provides chilling new details of the alleged murders.
According to the report, Henry sang to two of the children during the smothering murders, AZ Family reports.
The young mother, who recently moved to Phoenix from Oklahoma, allegedly killed her nearly 2-year-old daughter first, say police.
RELATED: Phoenix Mom Allegedly Confesses to Killing Her 3 Kids Under Age 4
While “wrestling on top of her,” AZ Family reports, “Rachel felt the one-year-old female’s breathing was obstructed but continued to impede her breath by placing her hand over the 1-year-old female’s mouth.”
The child struggled and began kicking her, prompting 3-year-old Zane to yell at her “in an attempt to get her to stop,” the report says.
He then began “punching her to no avail,” it says.
She knew the child was dead “when she stopped kicking,” it says.
Zane was next. After a relative came over and “interrupted her” by playing with him, she took him into another room.
After placing him on the floor, she “straddled him with one of her legs and placed her hand over his nose and mouth.”
While Henry allegedly held the boy down, she began “singing to the 3-year-old male as he was scratching her chest and pinching her while she placed her hand over his nose and mouth “to smother him until he died,” the report says.
She allegedly murdered her youngest child last, after giving her a bottle until she fell asleep, the report says.
“Rachel sang her a song as she placed her hand over her face and impeded her breath … until she became unconscious and died,” it says.
Henry then placed the three children on the living room couch, making it appear as though they were sleeping, the report says.
At 7:30 p.m. Monday, a relative in the house called police, who arrived to find the children dead, the Associated Press and USA Today report.
Authorities are investigating what led Henry to allegedly kill her three children.
Henry “had a methamphetamine addiction and had been acting strange the past several days,” the report says.
Henry wasn’t under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the murders, officials say in court records, ABC News reports.
On Tuesday in court, the district attorney told the judge that DCS had previously removed the children from her home “related to her drug addiction,” ABC News and AZ Family report.
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Henry appeared in court Tuesday but did not enter a plea. It is unclear if she has retained an attorney who can speak on her behalf.
The City of Phoenix Police Department did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s calls for comment.
