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In Los Angeles, Angela Flores, 38, a mother has admitted to murdering three of her seven children. The homicides were discovered on Mother’s Day. Reportedly, she had the help of her 16-year-old son whose name is unidentified, said authorities. Flores was taken into custody and sent to L.A. County Jail on three counts of murder Sunday night for killing three of her children, two boys, and a girl.
The teenage son was arrested alongside his mother. He was sent to Sylmar Juvenile Hall without bail for allegedly murdering or assisting in the homicide of one of his siblings. Flores’ bail was set at $6 million. It is anticipated she will be arraigned in court Wednesday.
The Los Angeles Police Department was called to the home of Flores, which is located in the 22500 block of Victory Boulevard, at 7:40 a.m. on Sunday with a report of an assault with a deadly weapon. The police found the three children unresponsive: Natalie Flores, 12; Nathan Yanez, 8; Kevin Yanez, 10, at the home. They were declared dead at the scene. They were identified on Tuesday by the L.A. County Coroner’s Office. The victims showed signs of trauma. No cause of death was released as the investigation is still ongoing and authorities are awaiting the autopsy report to figure out how the three children died that night. TNS reached out to The L.A. Coroner’s Office and was told by a media representative, “Due to the media information hold, we cannot disclose information about this case.”
Neighbors reported that the 16-year-old suspect went to the house next door for help Sunday morning. Neighbors also stated that they called the LAPD Saturday night to report Flores to the police after she sat on their front porch acting erratically for several hours. Neighbor Blanca Hernadez heard Flores say “Where is my Bible? You know, you know, I killed my kids.” Flores was taken to the hospital that night. Hernandez stated that the police thought Flores was crazy. The police did not do a welfare check until the teenage suspect called for help the following morning after the homicides.
Flores and her family only lived in the home in West Hills, L.A. for a few months, mentioned a neighbor who also commented that they commonly heard fighting and screaming from the house, this included the night prior to the discovery of the three dead child victims. “I kept hearing, ‘My family is abusing me’…”
Monday, neighbors paid their respect, by leaving flowers when they learned what had happened at Flores’ West Hill home. Local resident Victoria Braund implores, “If you see somebody who you suspect is struggling, do something…” Flores’ three other children were safe living with their father out of state at the time.
Homicide Soars in L.A.
This triple homicide adds to the total murders in L.A., which was reported by The Los Angeles Times to be 26 victims as of January 25 of this year. This is down from the 33 deaths at this time in 2021. As reported by The Los Angeles Magazine, 2021 had 397 murders in Los Angeles compared to the 797 homicides in Chicago in the same year. The triple homicide that was discovered Sunday is one of filicide. That is when a parent kills their child. In 2016, the National Center for Biotechnology Information published an article that stated, that 2.5% of all murder arrests in the United States are filicide. That is proximately 500 child murder arrests in the U.S. per year. Ninety-nine percent of filicides are done by biological parents, such is the case in this West Hills, L.A. triple homicide on Sunday. Ten percent of child homicides are done by step-parents.
Filicide in the United States
There are many reasons why a parent may commit filicide. Flores’ motives are still unknown, but the NCBI claims that common reasons for parents to commit filicide include:
- “Altruistic” these are out of love for the child and include not wanting the child to be left alone after suicide, and to prevent or relieve suffering.
- “Acutely psychotic” where the reason is not known or has no motive at all.
- “Unwanted child” as the name implies is when a parent kills the children when they no longer want them.
- ‘Child of maltreatment” this one stems from “battered baby syndrome” and is the only one where death was not the goal but an accident.
- “Spouse revenge” happens when one parent kills their children to get back at the other, commonly if there are infidelity or custody disputes.
George Gascón, the District Attorney of L.A., made this statement on the deaths of these three children, “We all grieve for these children. The loss of their young lives is a tragedy that has affected our entire community.”
If anyone has any further information about the murder that took place in West Hill, please contact the Abused Child Section, Juvenile Section during the hours of 9 a.m.-12 a.m. EST, at 213-486-0500 or 877-527-3247 if after hours. To remain anonymous, call crime stoppers at 800-222-8477.
Written by Ronnie J. Acosta
Edited by Jeanette Vietti
Sources:
ABC 7: Mom charged with killing 3 of her children on Mother’s Day in West Hills https://abc7.com/los-angeles-children-dead-lapd-investigation-san-fernando-valley/11835034/
New York Post: LA mom admits murdering 3 of her children with help of teen son: cops; by Yaron Steinbuch
KTLA: 3 kids killed in West Hills ID’d mother charged with murder; by Sareen Habeshian
Los Angeles Magazine: New Crime Stats Revealed: Homicide in Los Angeles Soared in 2021; By Jon Regardie
Los Angeles Times: Homicides and shootings in L.A. are down so far this year, but robberies are up LAPD chief says; by Richard Winton
National Libary of Medicine National Center for Biotechnology Information: Filicide in the United States; by Phillip J. Resnick
Featured and Top Image Courtesy of MomentsForZens Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inline Image Courtesy of Scouse Smurf‘s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License