Mother told police she drowned twins because ‘nobody loved them’

Avondale, Ariz — Police say a 22-year-old Avondale, Ariz., mother confessed to deliberately drowning her twin sons in a bathtub Sunday because nobody loved them or her.

Officers arrested Mireya Alejandra Lopez after her 2-year-old boys were rushed to different hospitals. When officers asked her why she had drowned her children. Lopez said she believes the twins "are bullied [and] are treated differently," court paperwork stated. Lopez said she did not want her children to grow up living a difficult life, according to police.

Lopez also said she did it "because nobody loved them and nobody loved her," the officer wrote in his report.

The boys' grandmother called 911 at about noon. When police arrived at the home, the children were on a bed in a bedroom, said Sgt. Brandon Busse of the Avondale Police Department.

Lopez and her mother, Mireya Kissi, were performing CPR on the twins, according to a court document.

The initial working theory was the boys drowned in a bathtub, Avondale Fire Chief Ron Deadman said.

Busse later said that Lopez told officers "that she intentionally drowned both of her twin boys in the bathtub."

But that is not all.

"Mireya also stated to investigators that she also attempted to drown another child in the home but she was stopped by family ...," Busse said in an email to media outlets.

Lopez said she had picked up that child, identified as her 3-year-old stepbrother, and taken him into the same bathroom where she admitted she had drowned her children, grabbed him by the neck and held his face underwater, according to the court document.

Kissi walked in and yelled at Lopez to let the child go, police said. Lopez told police "she was concerned about him as he rarely ate and he was anti-social," the arresting officer wrote in his report.

That child was not injured.

"They were just so full of life and had a big future," said Lopez's stepfather, Daniel Marino. "I raised them just like my own; it's heartbreaking that they're not here."

The twins' father, Sam Avitia, said he had joint custody of the boys and was scheduled to get them Friday. He also said Lopez suffered from depression and anxiety and takes medication but has never threatened anyone and never shown any violent tendencies.

"We asked for more help from the clinics, but they kept releasing her daughter and said we can't hold onto her," Marino said, speaking of Lopez.

Lopez told officers she thought it was better for them (the twins) to be at peace than to have to live with the same difficulties she has, according to the officer's written report.

When police asked how she had drowned her children, Lopez said she had filled up the bathtub on the second floor of her home. According to the court document, she placed them in the tub without their clothing and then grabbed them by the back of their necks and submerged them until they were no longer moving.

Lopez said she then grabbed a pen that was in the bathroom and poked a hole into one boy's neck to make sure he was dead, according to police. She said she then removed them from the bathtub, wrapped them in a blanket and placed them upstairs, officers said.

Officers, armed with a search warrant, said the tub was filled with 5 inches of water at the time of their arrival. Investigating detectives drained the tub after measurements and filled it up at full water pressure, which took 5 minutes and 42 seconds to fill, "due to the victims in this case all being children, 2 years old and 3 years old," police said.

Video from the scene showed officers escorting Lopez, who was in handcuffs, from the home. She was booked on two counts of homicide and one count of attempted homicide.

Lopez is being held on a $2 million bond. She is due back in court later this week.

Prosecutors said they have not decided if they will seek the death penalty.