Eleazar Paula Mendez

Case record: Eleazar Paula Mendez

Status and plea

Eleazar Paula Mendez pleaded guilty to three counts of capital murder. She was sentenced to life in prison without parole on May 18, 2007.

Background

Eleazar Paula Mendez was accused of murdering her three children by smothering. She was described as a Mexican national and as a woman who had moved to De Queen, Arkansas about a year before the killings to give the children a safer environment. Her husband, Arturo Morales, lived in New York and returned to New York to work. Mendez’s husband was supposed to visit the family during the Christmas holiday but did not show up.

Mendez left a note in Spanish saying she could not go on without her husband. She was described as speaking limited English and listened to an interpreter through headphones during Monday’s hearing. During that hearing, she replied “Si” when asked if she understood the court’s procedures.

Mendez had moved to the United States from Mexico 10 years earlier. A priest described Mendez as quiet, devout, and concerned about her children’s welfare, and said she was not working while her husband supported the family with a job in New York. Mendez and the children attended religious services and religious education classes. A woman who attended Mass described Mendez as “very loving,” said Mendez showed her photos of her children and her husband, and described Mendez as appearing to have few friends and “didn't go out on the street much.”

The children’s father, Arturo Morales, lived in New York. He called De Queen authorities from New York after his wife confessed to killing their children. The prosecutor said Morales disappeared in October after taking leave from his job in New York and had not been heard from since by local authorities. Morales did not attend Friday’s hearing.

The offence

Police found the bodies of 5-year-old twins Samuel and Samantha Morales and 8-year-old Elvis Morales at Mendez’ home on Jan. 28, 2006, after a call from the children’s worried father, Arturo Morales, who was living in New York.

Mendez told investigators she suffocated the children. Prosecutors said she suffocated the children, and one account said prosecutors believed Mendez poisoned the children before suffocating them.

Mendez told investigators: “I blessed them and then I suffocated them,” according to Cooper. She also said through an interpreter to Judge Ted Capeheart: “I took life away from my three children.”

At the house, authorities discovered four cups on a table near a container of ant poison. Police Chief Richard McKinley said: “It looked like they had been drinking some hot chocolate.” He said: “We also found nearby some poisoning. The poisoning was called Tempo. It was an insecticide poisoning. We also found, right by that, a mixing glass.” He said the mixing glass and the cups were also sent to a lab for tests.

In the house’s yard, investigators found a seven-foot-wide pile of burned papers. A page in a religion book bore the words “vamos a celebrar” (Spanish for “let’s celebrate”). A child’s handwriting was scrawled in blue ink across some papers, and there were charred letters from a labor union in New York City.

Investigation

Chris Brackett, an investigator with the Sevier County Sheriff's Office, said officers found the bodies of the children lying side by side on a bed in their home.

Prosecutor Tom Cooper said: “I do not believe there is any dispute as to who killed these three children, and therefore who will be charged,” and also said: “However, we have not determined at this time the particular homicide charge or punishment we will be seeking.”

Police said they needed a translator to read notes written in Spanish. Autopsies were planned to determine whether the children had been poisoned or smothered.

Prosecutor Tom Cooper said an emergency room doctor told him Mendez had not ingested enough of the toxic substance to kill herself.

Rev. Salvador Marquez-Munoz visited Mendez in a hospital and described her sorrow. He said: “She has tremendous remorse. She is deeply sorry,” and also said: “She asked for our prayers and forgiveness because she is realizing how much she has hurt the community, as well.”

Arrest and custody

Officers responded to a telephone call from the children’s father in New York. Mendez collapsed when officers arrived and was taken to a hospital for treatment after ingesting a toxic substance. She was being guarded there until she could be taken to jail to face homicide charges.

In a later hearing, it was stated that she was jailed without bail and placed under a suicide watch, and a judge ordered a psychological evaluation.

Mendez told investigators she tried to kill herself by swallowing ant poison on Friday. Prosecutor Tom Cooper said: “She said the children saw her take the pesticide and asked her to kill them, too, he said.” Mendez told investigators she suffocated the children.

Trial

Mendez was reported to have pleaded innocent to three counts of murder and was later reported to have pleaded guilty to three counts of capital murder.

Sentencing

After pleading guilty, Mendez was sentenced to life in prison without parole on May 18, 2007.

Appeals

No appeals information was provided.

Outcome

Mendez pleaded guilty to three counts of capital murder and received life in prison without parole on May 18, 2007.