Police: Man linked to child death had abandoned pregnant teen, toddler

A North Las Vegas man abandoned the 17-year-old stepdaughter he impregnated, police said, leaving the teen to give birth alone at home while looking after her 3-year-old sister, who eventually starved to death.

Jondrew Lachaux’s arrest report, made public Wednesday, revealed callous acts that police said started as abuse, and eventually killed his own flesh and blood.

The toddler died in early March, North Las Vegas police spokeswoman Chrissie Coon said.

Her body was left untouched about two weeks, police said. The teen and baby, meanwhile, lived in the house as her sister decomposed.

Lachaux, 39, was arrested Monday in connection with a child abuse probe that turned up the toddler’s body and the teen’s malnourished infant. Police said the teen mom and her younger sister are two of 38-year-old Kellie Phillips’ seven children. Phillips was arrested Tuesday.

The teen, whom police have not named because of her age, also faces an abuse charge.

The 17-year-old girl is Phillips’ oldest child, police said, and her youngest is 1. Lachaux is the biological father of six of the seven children and the stepfather to the teenage girl police said he sexually assaulted.

Neglect began around August, police said, when Lachaux and Phillips rented a vehicle that didn’t have enough room to take all seven kids on a road trip. So the adults took off for Oakland, Calif., with five of the children and left the 17-year-old and the 3-year-old behind, police said.

The parents, police said, left the teen and toddler with food, medication and breathing treatments at their house in the 6600 block of Wood Thrush Place, near the north 215 Beltway between the exits for Decatur Boulevard and Aliante Parkway. The 3-year-old had breathing problems.

The 17-year-old was pregnant when Lachaux and Phillips deserted her, police said, but Phillips didn’t know. The girl later gave birth in her mom’s bed. She didn’t have any medical attention.

Without enough food, the teen, toddler and infant began suffering from malnutrition, police said. The teen could only breastfeed her new child for two months before switching to baby formula.

After her sister died, police said, the teen tried to call Lachaux for two weeks. When she finally reached him, Lachaux ordered his stepdaughter not to call 911.

Instead, police said, he told the girl to put her sister into a box meant to carry a baby stroller, police said. On March 28, Lachaux returned from California and made the teen help him move his dead daughter into the back seat of a broken down car parked in the garage, police said.

Then, police said, they hid the box. First they put a plastic bin over it, then a blanket, and finally empty pizza boxes.

Two days later, police said, Lachaux tried to hide his new baby from his wife.

Fearing Phillips would find out he had gotten his stepdaughter pregnant, Lachaux gave the teen more baby formula, police said, and put her and the infant on the street.

That evening, the 17-year-old walked to a Wal-Mart, police said, pushing her baby in a stroller. She bought a coffee drink, diapers and wipes before taking a bus to the Strip.

After wandering the Strip, the girl pushed the infant four miles to McCarran International Airport, where the mother and daughter spent the night.

The next day, police said, Lachaux used a fake name to book his stepdaughter a room at a motel at Tropicana Avenue and Koval Lane. By this time, the 17-year-old was running low on baby formula and had to feed the infant diluted portions to make the most of what she had left.

When the formula ran out, police said, the girl was giving the baby only water.

Lachaux had arranged to meet the teen at McCarran on April 1, police said. But when his stepdaughter and the infant arrived, the baby got sick, prompting airport staff to call 911.

The baby was taken to Sunrise Hospital Medical Center in critical condition, and a police investigation started that night.

Lachaux faces three counts of child abuse with substantial bodily harm or death, and one count of destroying or concealing evidence. Justice of the Peace Kalani Hoo set bail at $1 million Wednesday. An arraignment hearing is set for April 15 in North Las Vegas Justice Court.

Phillips turned herself in around 3:15 p.m. Tuesday after a police search, Coon said. Phillips faces two counts of child abuse with substantial bodily harm or death.

When she went to police, Phillips was accompanied by her remaining five children, ranging in age from 1 to 9, Coon said Wednesday. The children are in Child Protective Services.

The 17-year-old faces one count of child abuse with substantial bodily harm or death and one count of destroying or concealing evidence. She is in custody at the Clark County Juvenile Detention Center, but Coon said authorities are considering “alternatives to prosecution” against the teen.

Her baby is making a “remarkable recovery” at the hospital, Coon said.

A child fatality disclosure report on the 3-year-old, filed by the Clark County Department of Family Services and disclosed on a state website, indicates the cause of the death is under investigation. The disclosure also indicates that there was no prior Child Protective Services’ history for the child or her family.

Writers Yesenia Amaro and David Ferrara contributed to this report. Contact Chris Kudialis at ckudialis@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0283. Find him on Twitter: @kudialisrj.