A Tucson woman originally charged with child abuse in the death of her boyfriend's 4-year-old girl is now accused of killing the girl and the girl's brother.
A Pima County grand jury indicted Reina Gonzales, 23, Friday on two counts each of first-degree murder and child abuse in connection with the deaths of Ariana Payne and Tyler Payne, said Deputy Pima County Attorney Susan Eazer.
No decision has been made as to whether prosecutors will seek the death penalty against Gonzales, Eazer said. They have already announced they will seek the death penalty for the children's father, Christopher Payne.
Until now, police have said Payne killed Ariana and Tyler sometime last year and Gonzales did nothing to stop it.
Gonzales was originally indicted on a single child-abuse charge pertaining to Ariana. Now she is accused of abusing and killing both children.
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Eazer would not say what additional evidence prompted the more serious charges.
Defense attorney Brick Storts said he learned of the new indictment when he visited a "shocked" Gonzales in the Pima County jail Saturday.
"I can't see how this woman should be charged with first-degree murder based on the evidence we've seen at this time," Storts said. "I don't even think they have enough evidence to charge her with child abuse."
Tyler's body has never been found, but Ariana's body was found in a plastic tub in a storage locker trash bin on Feb. 18.
Police were able to identify and track down Payne and Gonzales through a variety of leads. They were arrested March 1 after speaking with detectives.
Payne was indicted March 12 on charges of first-degree murder and child abuse. His indictment says he caused or permitted Ariana's bones to be broken and "failed to seek prompt medical attention and/or allowed the victim(s) to starve to death."
Ariana's autopsy revealed she suffered numerous broken ribs and a broken shoulder sometime prior to her death and one of her vertebrae was broken at or near the time of her death.
Tucson Police Detective Michael Orozco told grand jurors that doctors aren't sure when Ariana's spine was broken, but the broken ribs and shoulder still showed some signs of healing, according to grand jury transcripts.
"They (doctors) estimated that healing process anywhere between 10 days and several months," Orozco testified.
Gonzales denied ever seeing the children being abused, Orozco told grand jurors.
Gonzales said she once left Payne for a week and when she got back Ariana and Tyler were gone, Orozco said. She said Payne told her the children were with their mother.
But the woman Gonzales said she stayed with told detectives Gonzales was there only one night, Orozco said.
Grand jurors also learned that Gonzales told detectives Payne was abusive, and that he once held a gun to her head after she stopped making payments on the storage locker, Orozco said.
"I can't see how this woman should be charged with first-degree murder based on the evidence we' ve seen … I don't even think they have enough … to charge her with child abuse."
Brick Storts
Reina Gonzales' defense attorney
