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Sandra Yi ReportingDet. Gary McFarland: "I just can't comprehend somebody doing this to a child."
A mother is jail, accused of trying to choke her young daughter to death. Police say the woman planned to kill her three children and then herself.
There are no good answers why this mother would try to hurt her kids, but police say for Nicoya Negron, life was much to handle.
Det. Gary McFarland, Kaysville Police Dept.: "She just had a lot of pressure I guess, is what we're understanding from other people."
Negron is a victim of Hurricane Katrina. A Kaysville family helped bring her to Utah. Last fall she found an apartment in a low-income housing community. But police say Negron was frustrated; she couldn't find work and her children seemed to be a burden.
Det. Gary McFarland: "She tried to get family members or whatever to help her assist her with the raising of her children, and apparently they weren't able to respond."
On April 26th, police got a call to check on Negron's three kids. What they found sparked an investigation.
Det. Gary McFarland: "The eight-year old girl, she had a split lip that was bleeding and had some marks on her neck."
Court documents say Negron "put a belt around her daughter's neck and began to strangle her, and knocked her head against a dresser." She was "trying to kill the child", and admitted it.
Det. Gary McFarland: "What the kids told us she was yelling she was going to kill them."
Negron's four-year old daughter may have also been a victim.
Det. Gary McFarland: "And the four-year old girl disclosed witnessing her brother begin choked. He's 18 months, and then mom turned on her and started choking her."
Police say there may be a history of abuse. They noticed the eight-year old's reaction.
Det. Gary McFarland: "To me it's sad, but it's almost like she's conditioned in this kind of environment and it didn't seem to be that upsetting to her. It's just a matter of life to her."
Police investigated Negron three months ago when her daughter took an entire bottle of prescription medication. The girl told police her mom made her take it, but the investigation was closed after she recanted her statement.
The three children are now in state custody.
