Parents face murder charges in infant’s death

Kim Smith

Monday, Oct. 14, 2002 | 11:15 a.m.

Parents of a baby who died in her Henderson home earlier this month will face second-degree murder charges, according to a criminal complaint filed in Henderson Justice Court this morning.

Demone Tisdale, 21, and Sophia Mendoza, 20, will also be charged with two counts of felony child endangerment and two counts of child abuse by neglect, a gross misdemeanor, in connection with the condition of their other four children, according to Assistant Chief District Attorney Charles Thompson.

The couple will be arraigned in Henderson Justice Court Tuesday morning.

Special Public Defender Phil Kohn declined to comment on the case this morning, and Deputy Public Defender Drew Christensen could not be reached for comment.

The couple was charged with second-degree murder rather than first-degree murder or open murder because the parents are guilty of a crime of omission rather than commission, officials in the district attorney's office said.

Henderson Police were called to the couple's home on Wyoming Avenue about 8 p.m. Oct. 1 when the children's grandmother visited and found 1-year-old Sierra dead in a bedroom and the girl's twin brother, Jacob, vomiting and having difficulty breathing.

Police said that one of the parents had called the grandmother for help.

When questioned by Henderson detectives, Mendoza said she fed formula to Sierra on Sunday, the morning of Sept. 29, and the girl vomited. Mendoza put her daughter into the bedroom and left her there because she said she wasn't feeling well, according to the arrest affidavit.

Mendoza told police she was "in a stressful situation with the other kids always wanting to be held and demanding her attention, and she forgot about Sierra and thought she was all right and sleeping."

Tisdale seemed intoxicated or on an unknown controlled substance when police interviewed him, the affidavit says. Tisdale said he knew Sierra was in the bedroom, but didn't check on her, he told police.

The felony charges of child endangerment stemmed from Jacob's condition and the fact the couple's 5-month-old son had rickets on his wrist caused by dehydration and malnutrition, the officials said.

Jacob was released Friday from Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center into county custody, spokeswoman Ann Lynch said.

The couple face the gross misdemeanor charges in connection with the health of their 2- and 3-year-old children, who were treated and released from the hospital

The baby and the 2- and 3-year-olds are also in county custody.