Arizona Mother "Sang a Lullaby" to Her Three Children as She Smothered Them to Death.
A Phoenix woman is behind bars for allegedly murdering her three young children back in January of this year. Police said Rachel Henry methodically killed her three children, Zane Henry, 3, Mireya Henry, 1, and 7-month-old Catalaya Rios, by smothering them to death.
We do warn you that the details of this case are disturbing.
Rachel Henry reportedly smothered her children, starting with Mireya Henry, after the aunt came to her home to pick up the children’s father for work.
The 3-year-old reportedly yelled “no” at his mother and punched her to get her to stop smothering his younger sister. After killing her daughter, she briefly played with her son before taking him to a back room — where she placed her hand over his nose and mouth to kill him, according to KPNX.
Afterward, Henry fed her 7-month-old daughter a bottle until she fell asleep. She then allegedly placed her hand on the infant’s face until she died.
Rachel Henry reportedly sang to her toddler son and infant daughter while smothering them.
In a jailed visitation video Henry is questioned by the great aunt of the murdered children, Pearla Rebolledo. Rebolledo confronted Henry, badgering her with questions, until she tearfully broke down telling Rebolledo:
"I didn’t know what was going on. I told you I felt like I was losing my mind, because I didn’t understand why you guys, why everyone was acting the way they were. I didn’t, I was on drugs." Henry responded. "I was freaking out and I didn’t know what to do. I know I was scared."
Over the course of a six-minute call, Rachel claimed she was going crazy and that no one would listen to her.
"That is the point I kept telling you. I felt like I was losing my mind. I didn’t know what was going on, I tried to talk to someone they said I was stupid or I scared, and I didn’t know what I was talking about." Henry said.
However, when pressed more by Rebolledo, Henry gave another reason for her actions.
“Do you know how bad I wanted to go to the store? I wanted to go outside. I wanted to do this and I wanted to do that. You said I couldn’t be seen by Fransico. You said I couldn’t go to the store because of the babies and this and that. I was trapped in the house and I felt like I was going crazy.” Henry said.
We are in NO WAY making excuses for what this woman did however, we will say that when you see someone in distress and you feel as if they may be overwhelmed, STEP IN. This mother appeared to have been depressed when she took her children's lives. Depression doesn't always mean that a person is just sad, sometimes there are acts of desperation that accompany the depression.
Yes, it seems as if Henry wanted to go back to the way her life was before she had her children but we can't help but think that a little bit of intervention could have saved these children's lives. We wish she had just walked away and left her children with family. Being an absent parent is sometimes better than staying with your children knowing you're a danger to them.
