According to the police report, the girl’s grandfather told investigators that she had tried to fight back, attempting to bite his arms. Eventually, she vomited a “clear/purple liquid,” according to the statement.
At one point, Arely’s uncle pressed his hands against Arely’s back and chest while closing his eyes to pray, said the authorities. When he opened his eyes, about 10 minutes later, Arely was dead, he told the authorities, according to their statements.
Ms. Hernandez-Santos told investigators that her daughter had died between 6 and 6:30 that evening, the police said. No “lifesaving measures” were taken to help Arely, and Ms. Hernandez-Santos called the authorities only at the urging of her relatives and some two hours after Arely’s death, according to the police statements.
At the time of her death, Arely had not eaten for around 21 hours, and she had consumed only around six ounces of water since the previous day, the authorities said. The police said that they had found her with “numerous” bruises on her neck and clavicle, brain swelling, blunt-force wounds to her chest and back and internal bleeding of the heart, among other injuries.
“I urge everyone to reserve judgment until the full facts are known,” Dana Fite, a lawyer for Mr. Hernandez, 59, wrote in an email.
Edward Sousa, a lawyer for Mr. Hernandez-Santos, 19, said in an email that he had only just begun to investigate the allegations, but he added that “numerous misconceptions” surrounded the case.
A lawyer for Ms. Hernandez-Santos, 25, did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Ms. Hernandez-Santos was arrested on Jan. 31, and her brother and father were arrested on May 11, according to the police. A police spokesman said the authorities had been waiting for a “comprehensive medical examiner’s report” before making the arrests last week. He did not explain how the factual basis for Ms. Hernandez-Santos’s arrest differed from the arrests of her relatives.
