Mom sang to her 3 kids as she smothered them with dad in next room, Arizona cops say

WARNING: The following story contains graphic details that some readers may find disturbing.

An Arizona mother has been charged with murder after allegedly killing three children one by one, according to the Phoenix Police Department.

Rachel Henry, 22, admitted to smothering the three children, who are all under 5 years old, AZFamily.com reported Tuesday night. When officers arrived at the home in the area of 24th Street and Southern Road Monday evening, the 3-year-old boy, 1-year-old girl and 6-month-old girl were all found unresponsive, police said.

Officers attempted CPR on the children, but they were already dead, according to the police department. The children were later identified as Zane Henry, Mireya Henry and Catalaya Rios, KSAZ-TV reported.

Henry, the children’s father and another adult relative were all at the home at the time of the incident.

An arrest report states the mother said she smothered the 1-year-old, Mireya, first, AZCentral.com said. The mother placed her hand over the girl’s mouth and smothered her until she stopped breathing, while her 3-year-old son tried to stop her, the newspaper reported.

“Rachel knew she had killed the one-year-old female when she stopped kicking,” the police reported also obtained by AZ Family states.

Henry later took the 3-year-old boy, Zane, in a back bedroom to change his underpants, according to KSAZ-TV. As she was changing him, she placed him on the floor and straddled him with one of her legs, the TV station reported.

As Henry put her hand over her son’s nose and mouth, she sang to him as he scratched and pinched her, according to AZ Family. When the boy was dead, she turned her attention to the 6-month-old girl.

Henry fed the infant until she fell asleep, then she sang to her as she smothered her with her hand. The children’s father and aunt were in the next room, AZ Central reported.

The mother then attempted to make it look like the children were sleeping by laying them out on the couch, according to KSAZ-TV.

Then fire department responders arrived around 7:30 p.m. after police received an “unknown trouble” call from an unidentified female, police documents show.

Henry recently moved to Arizona from Oklahoma, police said. She has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder and is being held on $3 million bond.

One of the people police interviewed said Henry had a methamphetamine addiction and had been acting strange the past several days, AZ Central reported.

Catelin Klug, who has talked often with Henry in the last few months, told KNXV-TV that Henry spoke highly of her children.

“She would not stop talking about her kids, her kids, her kids,” Klug said. “She would see something and say, ‘Oh, my kids would like that.’”

Phoenix Fire spokesman Rob McDade said first responders were sent home early to be with their families due to the nature of the scene, according to KNXV-TV.

“This is one of the most difficult calls that officers and fire respond to, ones dealing with young ones who have lost their lives,” Phoenix Police Department Sgt. Mercedes Fortune added, according to KNXV-TV.

The Associated Press reported there was a makeshift memorial that included three white candles near the home.

Investigators will determine if postpartum depression was a factor in the incident.

“It’s mind-blowing, it’s shocking. It’s one of those things where you start asking yourself, why didn’t she reach out for help?” psychologist Dr. John Delatorre told AZ Family.

Henry’s children were previously removed from her care, which likely occurred in Oklahoma, AZ Central reported.