Two arrested after three children butchered

Two young relatives were arrested today after three children were found dead, one of them decapitated, in the US city of Baltimore.

At a news conference, police identified the suspects as Adan Espinoza Canela, 17, and Policarpio Espinoza, 22. They are cousins and are related to the victims although it was not immediately clear in what way.

The children were identified as nine-year-olds Ricardo Espinoza and Lucero Quezada, and Alexis Quezada, 10. One child was beheaded, the other two were partially beheaded.

“I’ve been around for 35 years and I’ve seen, unfortunately, my share of murders, but I’ve never seen something as bad as this,” Deputy Police Commissioner Kenneth Blackwell said earlier.

Detectives had stopped an unidentified “person of interest” in connection with the crime late last night.

The children were found when one of their mothers returned home from work yesterday. The woman, who speaks Spanish but little English, told a neighbour, who called emergency services.

“There’s blood all over my apartment,” a woman said in the emergency call, apparently providing translation for the mother. “They’ve killed my family!”

The first officer on the scene “couldn’t handle it” and had to give the call to another officer, Blackwell said.

“Walking in on a scene, seeing children of that tender age in that condition, certainly breaks your heart,” he said.

Police found a butcher’s knife they believe was used in the killings near the apartment where the victims were discovered.

A relative said the family was originally from Veracruz, Mexico. They moved from New York to Baltimore about three years ago. The relative said the family owns a food business.

Parents and teachers at the children’s school, Cross Country Elementary, hugged each other this morning and cried. Officials said grief counsellors would be on hand to help the 700 students.

The mother gave police information about where to find the man who was questioned, Blackwell said. Officers stopped him a few blocks from the crime scene.

Blackwell said the man’s relationship to the children, if any, was not known but he was an acquaintance of the mother.

The art deco apartment complex is on the edge of a neighbourhood of well-tended homes. It is largely Orthodox Jewish, with a mix of white, black and Hispanic residents.

Al Johnson, who lives in the complex, said she heard the mother screaming.

“They were very nice, cordial kids,” Johnson said. “It’s such a shock to everyone. “It’s a very quiet, peaceful community.”