PRISI VASQUEZ - Aged 4 years - Gwinnett, Atlanta (USA)

pam supportfromireland
Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 11:00 am

WSB TV

June 25, 2008

Body Of 4-Year-Old Girl Found In Attic

Girl's Father Has Been Charged

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. -- A man killed his 4-year-old daughter more than a year ago and stashed her body in the attic of his Lawrenceville home before moving with the rest of his family to Mexico, authorities said Wednesday.

The girl’s body remained undiscovered until Friday, when a tip from a relative prompted police to search the home on Stillwater Lane. The family member told officials the girl’s mother, Amy Yesenia, told her over the phone that one of her children had died of natural causes while the girl was living with them in Gwinnett County.

Yesenia told the relative her husband hid the body in the house before they left for Mexico in April 2007 and said her husband didn’t want her to tell anyone the child died because they would get in trouble, authorities said.

Gwinnett County authorities found the body of 4-year-old Prisi Vasquez in the attic. Homicide investigators said the autopsy determined the child had been killed.

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http://www.wsbtv.com/news/16707395/detail.html

* Prisi RIP little one.

AJC.com

28 June 2008

Extradition effort underway for father who fled to Mexico

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/gwinnett/stories/2008/06/27/vasquez_child_body_attic.html

The Brownsville Herald

September 24, 2009

Arrested at international bridge; charged with concealing the death of a child

http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/articles/death-102833-arrested-international.html

Gwinnett Daily Post

Nov 5, 2009

Mom of toddler found dead in attic released on bond

LAWRENCEVILLE — Amy Ruiz, mother of a slain toddler whose decomposed body was found in a Lawrenceville attic last year, has been freed from jail.

Ruiz’s supporters believe it’s the first time she’s been able to move about freely since her daughter, Prisi Vasquez, 2, was beaten to death nearly three years ago.

Ruiz posted $11,200 bond and was released Wednesday from the Gwinnett County Jail after her attorney reached an agreement with prosecutors.

Her attorney, Stan Sunderland, called the bond “a reasonable amount considering what she’s charged with,” a sum her family could “post without difficulty,” he said.

A grand jury indicted Ruiz last year on charges of child cruelty, second degree, and concealing the death of her daughter. Her husband, Christian Vasquez, faces murder charges for beating the child to death with what family members described as “a pole.”
Ruiz will be required to adhere to a special bond condition, but her attorney wouldn’t elaborate. Her case file was under review Thursday and unavailable for public viewing.

She’ll be staying with acquaintances in a location not disclosed in court documents for her protection, Sunderland said.

The bond condition “was not backbreaking,” he said. “Certainly, there are people who have a lot greater restrictions on their liberty.”

Ruiz’s family believe Vasquez flew into a rage and beat the toddler to death in early 2007, hiding the child’s body in the attic of their Stillwater Lane apartment. He’d threatened to harm Ruiz if she sought help, then forced her to flee the country with him, her family says.

For the ensuing years, she was held captive in Central Mexico, until she recently escaped to Mexican authorities who brought her to Texas in September, family members have said. Like her daughter, Ruiz was born in Georgia.

“Everybody is concerned basically,” Sunderland said. “They feel that (Ruiz) was a victim, just like Prisi. That’s something that needs to be dealt with.”

Federal authorities teamed with local police and prosecutors to search for the couple after their daughter’s body was discovered June 20 last year.

Authorities said the body lay hidden in the attic for about 16 months, while unrelated occupants lived in the apartment beneath.

Sunderland could offer no timeline on Ruiz’s arraignment, wherein she could enter a plea. Her husband’s exact whereabouts are still unknown, he said.

http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/localnews/headlines/69345307.html

Examiner

2 August 2012

Dad accused of killing girl, 2 and hiding her body in attic caught in Mexico

A man allegedly beat his 2-year-old daughter to death and hid her body in the attic of their Lawrenceville home for a year and a half.

Then police started searching for the man and that search, which lasted four years, ended on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, Gwinnett County Sheriff’s officials said Mr. Christian Vasquez was apprehended in Mexico.

Investigators said Mr. Vasquez struck his young daughter, Prisi, with an object, fracturing her skull in January or February 2007 at his family’s home at 729 Stillwater Lane.

Mr. Vasquez allegedly hid the child’s body in the attic, and that night fled with his wife to Mexico. The body lay in the attic for about 16 months, while unrelated occupants lived in the apartment beneath, police said.

Police didn’t find out about the body until June 2008 when the child’s mother, Ms. Amy Ruiz, called her parents in Gwinnett County.

"In 2008, the parents of the victim's mother contacted police and told them that Christian had killed the daughter and hidden her body in the attic," Gwinnett County police Cpl. Jake Smith said. "Detectives went to the location and discovered the body.

"Information from the wife led to warrants being issued against Christian."

That month, investigators secured arrest warrants charging Mr. Vasquez with murder, the sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Sean Smith said. In August, he was indicted on four related counts to the toddler's murder, Lt. Smith said.

A grand jury also indicted Ms. Ruiz for second-degree child cruelty and concealing the death of another, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post. Her indictment alleges that she failed to seek medical attention for her slain daughter.

But her family claimed her prosecution is unjust and said she was also a victim, the paper reported.

Ms. Ruiz told her family that Mr. Vasquez flew into a rage and beat the toddler to death with a pole.

He threatened to harm his wife if she sought help, and then forced her to flee the country with him, her family told the paper in 2009.

Texas authorities an emaciated and scarred Ms. Ruiz was caught trying to cross back into the United States in September 2009. Her family said she was helped across by Mexican authorities after she’d escaped her husband, who had held her captive in Puebla.

Her trial in her daughter’s death is still pending and now investigators are waiting for Mr. Vasquez to be extradited back to Georgia to face his charges.

Lt. Smith said he did not know when that will happen.

Four years ago, Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office investigators secured federal UFAP — Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution — warrants for Mr. Vasquez.

They partnered with the Gwinnett District Attorney’s Office, the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice to obtain a provisional arrest warrant for Mr. Vasquez in Mexico in 2010, Lt. Smith said.

http://www.examiner.com/article/dad-accused-of-killing-girl-2-and-hiding-her-body-attic-caught-mexico