Foster mother accused of killing baby in Northeast Albuquerque

A woman turned herself into police on Monday, a couple of weeks after her 10-month-old foster baby died from injuries caused by “abusive head trauma.”

On July 3, the Albuquerque Police Department charged Denise Vazquez-Browley, 39, of Albuquerque with child abuse resulting in death. She is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center.

At about 12:30 p.m. June 16, APD received a call of a 10-month-old girl having a seizure in the 8300 block of Krim NE, between Wyoming and Barstow, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court.

When officers arrived, first responders revived the girl’s heart before taking her to a local hospital, APD spokesperson Gilbert Gallegos said in a news release.

Vazquez-Browley told detectives she was rocking her crying baby, holding her “tightly” to calm her down, the complaint states. After putting her in the crib, Vazquez-Browley told police, the baby was “shaking,” spitting up and not breathing, police said.

She told police she called 911 after trying to revive the baby by “rubbing her chest and shaking her a little bit,” Gallegos said.

A University of New Mexico Hospital doctor told police that “abusive head trauma” was the “most likely diagnosis, and could explain all observed findings,” police said.

Vazquez-Browley denied injuring the baby, the complaint states.

Her husband told police while she “would know better” about harming the girl, he “did not outright refute the possibility,” police said. He told police she becomes overwhelmed easily and sometimes yells at their children, the complaint states.

After the baby died a few days later, police learned that the day before the 911 call, Vazquez-Browley sent texts to a friend about being “overwhelmed” and “overstimulated,” police said.

Before calling police the next day, according to the complaint, she visited with an early intervention specialist while her husband was at home with the baby.

Police said Vazquez-Browley went online to look for information on infants with seizures and what to do “if you want to bite your infant,” and law enforcement investigation techniques when interviewing children, the complaint states.

There have been “no known medical conditions nor accidental trauma reported” to explain the girl’s injuries, police said.

The couple’s other children were taken into New Mexico Children, Youth, and Families Department custody, Gallegos said.