Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2002 | 11:34 a.m.
A family and a neighborhood were trying to comprehend the tragic death of a 1-year-old this morning.
Sophia Mendoza, 20, and Demone Tisdale, 21, are in the Henderson jail on murder and neglect charges.
The couple are being held on charges of murder in the death of one of their children and neglect charges pertaining to their other four children. They were arrested early this morning by Henderson police after a family member found the dead child. Police say the couple called a member of Tisdale's family for help.
Tuesday night, Mendoza's extended family gathered to celebrate two family birthdays. Sophia, who turned 20 on Tuesday, did not attend.
"We were all happy here in the house yesterday, and the baby was dead," said Grace Mendoza, Sophia's grandmother. "We didn't know."
The family said the child's name was Sierra. Her twin brother, who is in critical condition at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, is Jacob. The three other children are in county custody.
"For the record, we're a close family," said Sonia Mendoza, Sophia's aunt. "We've been devastated by this."
Sonia describes Sophia as her favorite niece.
"The kids were real happy. Sophia was like a normal mom, always chasing the kids around the house," she said. "She had her hands full."
Sophia Mendoza's other children are a 3 year old, 2 year old, the surviving 1-year-old twin and a 5-month-old.
Friends and relatives say she had quit a job at Wal-Mart as a customer service manager nine months ago because her boyfriend, who goes by the nickname Cube, was put in jail on a warrant earlier this year. He faced a domestic violence charge in 2001 and a robbery charge in 1998.
He's been in and out of jail since they've been together, family members said. They said the couple had been together for at least five years and had known each other in grade school.
The last time Grace Mendoza had seen Sophia was Monday. She had picked her up to cash a check at the bank because Sophia and Demone don't have a car.
She saw the kids running around in the yard. "I asked for the kids, and she said everybody was doing OK, and the kids came outside in the yard and were playing," she said. "The big kids, not the little kids."
Joanne Dominguez, who lives across Wyoming Street from the family, said police came to the house frequently.
"The only time I really saw them was when the police would come, because they were arguing," she said.
She said her niece walked the children across the street when she found them playing outside in March at 11:30 p.m. The children were in diapers and barefoot, despite the cold weather then, she said.
"If she ever needed help, all she had to do was ask," Dominguez said. "I would have been more than happy to help them."
The landlord, Linda, who would not give a last name, says the couple have lived there one year come November.
"They were typical renters, a window would get broken, we would have to tell them to fix it, but nothing major."
She was concerned several times about the house not being clean. The family was told to clean up the house or they would face eviction.
The lease was for only three kids. The landlord did not know that there were five children.
She knew about two toddlers, one a boy and one a girl, and the infant.
There were several families living there. The landlord was going to warn her to move the others out or they would be evicted.
Linda never met Demone. Sophia's mother paid the rent with a check, Linda said.
"Sophia is a good person," she said. "She was very respectful and well-mannered and always clean. I'm in complete shock."
Becki Powell, spokeswoman for St. Rose Dominican Hospital, called the incident "tragic," especially given the close proximity of the family's home to the Rosa de Lima campus on Lake Mead Drive. The hospital has support programs for parents and can make referrals to help families, Powell said.
"It's sad to think any child is out there not getting the help they need," Powell said. "Parents need to know there are people who care and resources to help them."
Sun reporters
Jennifer Lawson and Kimberly Smith contributed.
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