Sophia Simmons, Phoenix, Arizona mother beats daughter child dead, discards body in dumpster, Christmas Eve. Victim had various wounds including those that had been in the process of healing.
‘It went too far….’ A Phoenix mother has been accused of beating her daughter to death and then dumping her lifeless body in a dumpster on Christmas Eve.
Sophia Simmons, 38, was arrested after cops received a tip that she had placed her daughter’s body in a dumpster after the child was allegedly brutally beaten and died.
A witness, who lives in New York, allegedly received a phone call from Simmons on Christmas Day and claimed the mother had confessed to having ‘beaten her child and it went too far,’ ABC 15 reported.
Search warrant revealed Phoenix mom trying to cover crime scene
The girl who was not named is believed to be between five and seven years old. She was found on Sunday around 8 p.m. inside the dumpster in a storage container.
An individual had gone into the dumpster in search of firewood when they noticed the container’s lid was not properly on. When they looked inside, they found the child’s body and told a nearby security guard, who in turn called police.
Officers found the girl’s body with multiple injuries to the legs, arms, and torso. Investigators believe the wounds were at multiple stages of healing and the girl had scars from previous attacks, ABC 15 reported.
The New York witness who had known Simmons for many years also stated Simmons telling her that she had left the child’s body after allegedly beating the infant and upon returning, the girl was not breathing.
She stayed with the body for five days, a police report said, before taking it to the dumpster.
After securing a search warrant, police found evidence of someone trying to clean a crime scene, ABC 15 reported. At that time, Simmons was not at home.
Reported AZ Family: Documents say the front door was open and that a smoke alarm could be heard going off inside. There was furniture outside, and a garden hose was going through the front door. Detectives obtained a search warrant and found standing water throughout the townhome and noted that cushions were missing from the couch.
Prior history of child abuse
Police tracked Simmons’ phone and found her in California en route back to Arizona. She was stopped outside of Phoenix and taken to police headquarters.
Phone records also showed her device was near the dumpster around 10:30 a.m. on Sunday.
The mother was booked into jail on first-degree murder, child abuse, and tampering with evidence.
During her initial court appearance, a prosecutor pointed out that Simmons had at least one previous conviction in Minnesota for ‘malicious punishment of a child.’ It remained unclear if that conviction related to the deceased child or of another child.
The investigation is ongoing, and detectives are awaiting specific information on the girl’s death from the medical examiner’s office.
