Tragedy struck Glendale as a mother and her boyfriend were arrested following the death of her young son, whose lifeless body spurred panic and a frantic search for medical aid at a local CVS. According to FOX 10 Phoenix, Maria Machado-Perez rushed into the pharmacy begging for help for her unresponsive 21-month-old child, only to have the toddler pronounced dead at Banner Thunderbird Medical Center with injuries suggesting a grim history of abuse.
A deeper investigation by authorities soon uncovered the horrors the child endured, Francisco Higuera, the boyfriend, is accused of striking the baby with a belt, hurling the helpless victim into a crib, while the charges shed light on Maria Machado-Perez's passive stance, remaining a silent onlooker to her son's agony, never intervening to stop the abuse or seek the aid her son desperately needed, resulting in murder charges for the duo. The couple who share a 6-month-old child was admonished by a judge, "Neither of you may have any contact whatsoever with anyone under the age of 18, including your own children," as reported by FOX 10 Phoenix.
In a chilling follow-up, court documents released depict a scene of prolonged brutality against the toddler, with numerous bruises in various stages of healing and multiple bone fractures that hinted at a timeline of torment and pain, these findings according to information divulged by 12 News. Bond was set at $1.5 million for Higuera and $500,000 for Machado-Perez, reflecting the severity of the case and the charges they face.
Perez facing a glaring first-degree murder charge her boyfriend Higuera, bearing the same weighty accusation in addition to charges related to child abuse, this according to 12 News.
