A New Orleans woman was arrested Sunday and charged with negligent homicide and second-degree cruelty to juveniles after her 12-year-old son was killed by an alligator, city officials said.
Hilda Vasquez, 34, was taken into custody nearly a month after her son, Bryan Vazquez, was last seen leaving the family home and nearly two weeks after his body was recovered from a nearby lagoon, New Orleans police said. The charges carry up to 10 years in prison.
Police said Vasquez left Bryan at home with an 11-year-old sister the morning he slipped out of a bedroom window. An arrest warrant filed by investigators alleged the window was not secured despite previous incidents in which Bryan had escaped. Surveillance video showed the boy outside in only an adult diaper around 5 a.m. on Aug. 14, and he was last seen on footage less than an hour later, officials said.
Bryan, who was nonverbal, went missing that morning. Members of the volunteer United Cajun Navy located his remains in a lagoon near the family's residence on Aug. 26. An autopsy determined he drowned after suffering blunt-force trauma consistent with an alligator attack, police said.
Deputy Superintendent Nicholas Gernon told reporters there had been a pattern of alleged negligence and abuse over Bryan's 12 years that investigators believe contributed to his death. "We believe that we can prove that that pattern of negligence and abuse led to ... undue pain and suffering on his part," Gernon said.
Vasquez was previously convicted in 2013 of cruelty to a juvenile after Bryan suffered a skull fracture, broken legs and a collapsed lung when he was an infant; the injuries left him with a traumatic brain injury, officials said. Authorities removed Bryan from the home after that conviction, but the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services later returned him to Vasquez, police said.
The arrest warrant alleges Vasquez "failed to take appropriate steps to secure her residence despite her knowledge of special needs and history of leaving the residence," and that her failure to protect and check on Bryan contributed to his death. The mother also faces a separate count of second-degree cruelty to juveniles.
New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said officers have launched an internal investigation into a five-hour delay in the initial response to a 911 call reporting Bryan missing. Kirkpatrick said police have asked the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to remove so-called nuisance alligators from the lagoon and to bring in hunters to control the population.
Vasquez is scheduled to appear for a bond hearing next week. Prosecutors and police said the case remains under active investigation, and they did not provide details on any potential additional charges.