JAN 21, 2020
Rachel Henry: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know | Heavy.com
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The children have been identified by the Maricopa County Office of the Medical Examiner as
Zane Henry,
Mireya Henry and
Catalaya Rios. Family members told police the children had been ill earlier in the day, a police spokesperson said at a press conference.
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Henry had previously lost custody of her son and daughter because of her issues with drug addiction, a prosecutor said in court on Tuesday,
KTVK-TV reports. ...
Henry lived in the Phoenix home with the 30-year-old father of her three children and a 49-year-old woman who is referred to in court documents as Henry’s aunt and the homeowner. Police were still interviewing them, but do not believe they were aware that the children had been killed until the 911 call was made, according to court documents.
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Phoenix Police responded to a 911 call at 2520 East Vineyard Road about 7:20 p.m. on January 20, 2020,
according to court documents. The caller, an unidentified female, told police three children were dead inside the home. Officers, firefighters and EMS personnel arrived and determined the kids were deceased.
One of the other adult residents of the home told police the children had last been seen alive at 2 p.m. ...
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Police said in the probable cause statement, “Rachel admitted to smothering each child starting with the one-year-old female.” ...
Police said the 3-year-old boy tried to help his 1-year-old sister by punching Henry, “to no avail.” Henry told police she knew she had killed her daughter “when she stopped kicking” her. Henry said she chased the 3-year-old boy and was interrupted when someone arrived back at the house. Henry told police she spent time playing with the boy and took him into a back bedroom where she changed his underpants.
According to police, “As Rachel did so, she placed the 3-year-old male on the floor of the bedroom, straddled him with one of her legs and placed her hand over his nose and mouth. Rachel described singing to the 3-year-old male,” as he scratched her chest and pinched her. She told police she used her weight on top of him to smother him until he died, according to the affidavit.
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... Rachel sang to the 7-month-old female until she became unconscious and died. Rachel placed all of the children in a position on the living room couch as if they were taking a nap. Rachel did not tell (redacted) or (redacted) what happened.”
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One of Rachel Henry’s family members told police she had a methamphetamine addiction and “had been acting strange the past several days,” according to court documents.
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Fortune said she did not know if the mother had provided a reason for harming the children and she said that would be part of the ongoing investigation.
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According to her Facebook page, Rachel Milan Henry is a native of San Diego, California, but graduated from Prague High School in Oklahoma. ...
Henry studied to be a certified nursing assistant at the Gordon Cooper Technology Center in Shawnee, Oklahoma, according to her Facebook profile. Henry is unemployed, a Maricopa County prosecutor said in court.
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Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego
issued a statement on the triple homicide, saying, “Yesterday our city’s public safety officers responded to the scene of a heartbreaking triple homicide. Three innocent children lost their lives. This atrocity defies the realms of one’s worst nightmares. Our thoughts are foremost with the victims and their family members as they navigate this painful and complex time.”
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According to The Arizona Republic, Henry mumbled softly to the judge during the court hearing. She asked, “I’m not getting released?” after learning her bond had been set at $3 million. ...
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Henry does not appear to have a prior criminal record in Arizona or Oklahoma. She is scheduled to return to court on January 31.