Police in the Pinal County town of Superior were called to the home of 21-year-old Brittany Velasquez Monday night, where they say they found her trying to revive her 2-year-old boy and 10-month-old girl. She told police she found them in car seats inside her vehicle, but no more information has been released.
Tuesday, Velasquez was charged with two counts of first-degree murder. Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb said the case has been troubling for everyone in the rural community.
VIEW LARGER "This is not something that easy for us as investigators or deputies or law enforcement to show up to so, we have our own work to to deal with our employees to make sure that the impact of a scene in a case like this does not go unnoticed as well," Lamb said in a news conference streamed online Tuesday.
Sheriff Lamb said his detectives took over the case from the Superior Police Department, which doesn't have the manpower to handle it.
Superior's interim police chief, Christian Ensley, said his officers responded to calls at the home several times in the last two years, and police called in Child Protective Services in January.
Medical examiners haven't yet determined how the children died.
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