John Jefferson
Virginia Lujan (Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office).
A grandmother and mother in Arizona are accused of abusing a special-needs 13-year-old girl to death, beating the child, who had the mental capacity of a 3-year-old, and disciplining her by forcing her to spend time in a makeshift feces-covered cage.
Virginia Lujan, 55, and Jami Hodges, 33, were taken into custody on Tuesday and charged with one count each of child abuse in connection with the death of the victim, who was their granddaughter and daughter.
According to a news release from the Tempe Police Department, officers with the Tempe Police Department at about 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 21, responded to a 911 call at Lujan’s home after the grandmother told the emergency dispatcher that her 13-year-old granddaughter was not breathing.
Upon arriving at the scene, first responders located the victim and attempted life-saving measures before rushing her to a local hospital for treatment. Police inside the home noted that the victim was “covered in bruises and sores,” all of which were “in various stages of healing,” which is a telltale indicator of ongoing physical abuse.
Due to “initial observations” and the severity of the child’s condition, police notified members of the Criminal Investigation Bureau about the case.
In an interview with detectives, the victim’s grandmother said the child was in her care at the time she called 911.
“Lujan told investigators the child had fallen down the stairs two days prior, on Sunday night,” the release states. “She said she did not seek medical attention because she believed the girl would be fine. It was learned the girl had a cognitive delay and had the mental capacity of a 3-year-old.”
The victim’s mother told detectives that she was “not aware of a fall” involving her daughter, police said. Hodges also confirmed that her daughter had been “temporarily staying with Lujan, who was caring for four of Hodges’ five children.”
“Hodges admitted to not seeing her 13-year-old daughter regularly since staying at her mother’s home,” the release states.
Back at the hospital, medical staff spend multiple hours performing life-saving procedures on the child. Unfortunately, she succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced dead in the early morning hours of Jan. 22, police said.
Detectives subsequently obtained and executed a search warrant on Lujan’s home. During the search, authorities said they found “what appeared to be a makeshift cage, which was full of feces and had a foul odor.”
“Both Lujan and Hodges admitted that the girl was kept in this ‘cage’ to keep control of her,” the release states.
While the mother-daughter duo in custody were only facing child abuse charges as of Thursday afternoon, police said the investigation remains ongoing and more charges could be pending based on additional evidence.
Police said Lujan remains in custody while Hodges was “booked and released pending charges.”
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