PHOENIX — A Phoenix woman has been arrested on suspicion of killing her three children, who were found dead inside the family's home after firefighters got a call about a drowning, authorities said Tuesday.
The 22-year-old mother, Rachel Henry, “has admitted to harming her three children," which led to their deaths, police Sgt. Mercedes Fortune told reporters outside the home on a block with several weathered wooden houses and an old mobile home in a once rural area of southern Phoenix.
A relative who lives at the house called police late Monday, and officers found a 7-month-old girl, 2-year-old girl and 3-year-old boy in a living room with no obvious trauma.
The Phoenix Fire Department also received a call from the home reporting a drowning involving three children, Capt. Rob McDade said.
Relatives initially believed illness may have been a factor, but Fortune said police “are comfortable in saying now that the mother is responsible for the death of the children."
Officers administered CPR and fire officials provided first aid, but the children were pronounced dead.
Police were interviewing the children's 30-year-old father and a 49-year-old relative who lives in the home, authorities said. The family had recently moved from Oklahoma.
