SERIALously - 79: DISGUSTING! Stepmother Does The Unthinkable

Episode Date: October 23, 2023

Welcome back to this week’s episode of SERIALously. Today we are discussing a case that is truly heinous and unimaginably cruel. It takes place in Orange County, California. A young girl arrived at a hospital, and what was uncovered was truly horrifying. Warning! This episode is EXTREMELY disturbing.  Masterclass: Get 15% off RIGHT NOW at https://www.MASTERCLASS.com/AE. PDS: go to https://www.PDSDebt.com/Save for a free debt analysis just for completing the quick and easy debt assessment  Quince: Go to https://www.Quince.com/ae for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Shopify: Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at https://www.SHOPIFY.com/serialously Follow the podcast on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/serialouslypod/ Follow the podcast on Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@serialouslypodcast  Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/annieelise All Social Media Links: https://www.flowcode.com/page/annieelise_ SERIALously FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/SERIALouslyAnnieElise/ About Me: https://annieelise.com/ For Business Inquiries: [e-mail]

Hey, true crime besties, welcome back to an all-new episode of Serialistly. Hey everybody, welcome back to an all-new episode of Serialistly. It's me, Annie, your true crime bestie, here to break down another true crime case for you, and one that is going on right now, and it's actually close to home. Now, if you're watching the video version of this, you get it, that this episode is a little bit different than normal episodes. But if you're listening to the audio version, you're like, what do you mean it's different? What do they see that I don't hear? Which let me tell you, I have my sister Amy in studio joining me for today's episode. Now for those of you guys who don't know, and I'm going to have Amy introduce herself in a

second here, but let me just let me just paint the picture for you. So the whole reason I'm into true crime is because of Amy. Like, we used to watch Dateline together, we talk about true crime cases all together, all the time together, and like, really, it's kind of, it's kind of a tandem deal. It's like a two-for-one special. But I've done live streams with her on my main channel, 10 to Life, in the past, and a lot of people give me feedback regularly and asking, like, hey, when are you bringing Amy back? When are you guys going to talk about a case again? So today, because it's a case that is happening so close to home in Orange County, California, I thought, what better person to bring on here than my sister Amy and talk to her about

this case? And she doesn't know at all the case I'm going to be sharing with her today. So we're going to be getting some raw reaction as we go. So Amy, can you tell the people a little bit about you, your fascination with true crime? I know you're a little nervous. I'm kind of natural like you. No, no, no, no. You are. And then we're going to jump right in. Well, thanks for having me. You're so welcome.

So what do you want to know? I mean... Who am I? Yeah. who are you, Amy? What's your sign? What do you like? Well, I'm a Leo. I'm your older sis by just a hair. Yes. I'm a realtor. I've been doing real estate for over 10 years and born and raised in Orange County. Spent a couple years in New York. Of course, one thing that we love together in New York. Yeah. All right.

And you love true crime. Love true crime. Yeah. I've always loved true crime. Big Keith Morrison fan. Yeah, big Keith Morrison fan. And so, yeah, so what I'm going to do today is, if I can figure out how to get this screen brighter on my iPad, is I'm basically going to tell you about a case that is happening right now in Orange County. And I'm going to, we can kind of just talk through it together. Okay.

Okay. So there has been a very deeply and disturbing and harrowing case unfolding in Anaheim, California, which let me just tell you guys is literally about 15 to 20 minutes away from where we live. Very close. And it's like five minutes from where we grew up, actually. Went to high school there. Yeah. Yeah, we did. We went to high school there. So this case is shedding light on the horrifying extent of child abuse and torture that was inflicted on an innocent 10-year-old little girl at the hands of her own family members, which I feel like I hate saying this. It's like, tale as old as time, right? How many times are we going to talk about this? How many times are there going to be a House of Horror case? It's just awful. And the details of this case are extremely chilling, so listener beware. I just want to give a little bit of that disclaimer ahead of time. But like I said, it's very close to home.

Like I said, it's very close to home. The nightmarish saga began to unravel in August of 2022, when Domingo Jr. Flores arrived at the Children's Hospital of Orange County with his emaciated 10-year-old daughter. At the time, his daughter weighed a mere 50 pounds and was unresponsive. Domingo claimed that her injuries had resulted from a fall down the stairs, but the reality was far more sinister and far, far more grotesque. Now, let me paint this picture for you a little bit more as if that's not horrifying enough. The girl was in septic shock and was experiencing heart failure when she arrived at the hospital. She was so malnourished at 50 pounds that nurses

and doctors initially thought that she was years younger than her actual age because of how frail she was oh my gosh that's so sad i know and it's like what do you even do in that moment as a nurse or a doctor when you see someone come in you're looking at them and you're like oh this six-year-old girl or this seven-year-old girl then come to find out no she's really 10 years old she's just so malnourished and so frail i'm sure it's shocking yeah and i mean it blows me away and children's hospital of orange county i've talked about it before obviously you know this amy holds a very special place in my heart they i want to say saved my life essentially when i was 16 years old it's chalk hospital

in orange county and this is the hospital that she was brought into, which I just have to say, like, thank God, because they are the best of the best. Best team. Yeah, the absolute best team. So when medical professionals examined her upon her first arrival at the hospital, they were confronted with a scene of absolute unimaginable torture. The girl had a broken neck, a gruesome untreated wound with a bone protruding, and her body was covered in bruises. Now remember, her father had said that this was a fall down the stairs, but now that they're seeing how malnourished she is, the extent of all of these injuries, things are looking a little bit different. So it wasn't just her father that became a suspect in

this case. Her stepmother, 33-year-old Myra Corina Chavez, was also blamed for these horrific injuries. So upon her arrival at the hospital, both her father Domingo and stepmother Myra were immediately apprehended by the Anaheim Police Department. Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer expressed his profound shock and sadness at just the sheer magnitude of this child's suffering, and he said, and I quote, the details of unimaginable pain and suffering that this little girl endured at the hands of her stepmother have brought the most experienced prosecutors, police officers, and hospital staff to tears. But this systematic and diabolical torture of a child was normalized in her household.

I mean, very, very heavy, and we're going to get into some of those details of what went on in that household, and it's honestly appalling. And I know for you, I feel like these always hit close to home for me. But over the coverage and years I've been doing this, I don't want to say I've become desensitized, but it takes a lot to shock me. This case really did shock me. And for you, I can already see you welling up in your eyes. Amy automatically, no matter what's going on in the world, what the cases are, she usually will tell me that she immediately thinks of my children, her niece and nephew, Theo and Emmy. I can see the tears are

coming because Amy is a very empathetic person just by nature. And so she deeply feels these. So I know that while you may not want to share. No, no, I know. Well, I know you might not want to share everything you're feeling along the way, but feel free to because I know it's going to be hard. It's okay. It's okay. I mean, thank God that he had the decency to bring her to a hospital because we've seen so many times where they're afraid. And so they try to unfortunately conceal what's going on or cover what's going on and try to dispose of the body or end their life or whatever. And I just feel like, thank God that he had whatever it was morally to have him take her to the hospital.

So obviously I don't know how the story unfolds, but I hope that that was in time and that they were able to save her life. Totally. And I think that's a great point because so often, you're right, people try to cover their tracks. And while he did to an extent by saying, oh, she fell down the stairs, that like he's not copying to the full story, at least he brought her there to get medical attention, realizing like, okay, it's time. Whatever's happening has gone too far. So as I said, it wasn't just her father who was a suspect in this. Her stepmother, stepmonster, I should say, was also a suspect in this. So upon her arrival, they were both immediately apprehended. Now, the subsequent investigation truly revealed a horrifying arsenal of torture implements within the family's Anaheim apartment. Seemingly mundane zip ties had been repurposed into true instruments of terror.

The little girl had been subjected to horrific acts, including being hogtied with zip ties, forced to kneel on tin cans for extended period of time, forced to kneel on raw rice, and subjected into biting into an habanero pepper, which was then, oh, it gets worse, which was then that pepper was rubbed onto her genitals and onto her eyes like it's really sick it is really really sick i just don't understand whatever i mean nothing justifies that no treatment to anybody let alone to a child and it just you can't even wrap your mind around that. I know. I mean, there's a lot of people who will make the argument that spanking is considered child abuse, which everybody, parents differently in their household, I personally do not believe

in spanking. That's my own personal opinion. But at what point do you escalate so far to where you have to just call it, it's calculated abuse. You're having this 10 year old bite into a habanero pepper, then you're taking it and rubbing it in her eyes and on her genitals and inside her vagina. Like, it's absolutely cruel. It's disgusting. And it unfortunately didn't stop there. Before we get into the details, we are going to take a quick break and have a quick word from today's sponsors, because as you know, the sponsors help keep this podcast free, so I appreciate you all for understanding. Okay, besties, so I recently changed up my makeup routine, and it totally upped my confidence with how I'm doing my makeup. Now, while I'd like to take credit for it and think

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to cold showers and even ice baths. Now get this, as if this isn't evil enough, her mother, Myra, stepmother Myra, also had coerced the girl's three siblings into participating in these horrible acts against this 10-year-old child. Were those her siblings or step siblings? Both, both. She was forced them to watch and then partake in the torture it's and where was her mother at this well so we're gonna get into that and get into a little bit of what they're not excused but what their motive apparently was in this so ultimately it was her uncle walter and aunt levitt who reported the shocking abuse to the authorities and told them what was really going on like this wasn't just to fall down the stairs here's's what's actually happening. And the girl's uncle, Walter, struggled to find words to describe the horrific details, saying, and I quote, you're hearing all of these details

and it's gruesome. You don't wish that upon anybody. So the 10-year-old little girl endured a staggering 17 surgeries to address her several injuries, rendering her unable to walk for a period that lasted nine months as she recovered. I can't imagine if she was so emaciated and in terrible condition. I can't imagine that it was an optimal time to do these surgeries. Of course. She needed them. So that was probably a risk also. It's so sad when you think about it. 17 surgeries at 10 years old. That's so much. Unneeded surgeries just wants to address these injuries that were inflicted upon you by your evil step monster. It's awful.

So the prosecution, when this went to trial, and we're going to talk about all of this in a second, the prosecution had said during the trial that with schools closing during the pandemic, Myra had free reign to abuse this little girl. And apparently an officer had made a welfare check in the past. When an officer made that welfare check on the girl, it was following a complaint by a relative back in 2022. And Myra was able to somehow convince them that nothing was out of the ordinary, nothing was awry, in what the prosecutor called award-winning theatrics. So her stepmother Myra's trial featured witnesses who documented the child's agonizing ordeal, and honestly, it is nothing short of a miracle that

she survived at all and survived just such relentless brutality. But Myra was not only on trial for the abuse that was inflicted upon her 10-year-old stepdaughter. She also was on trial for charges extending to the other children, including another stepdaughter, her husband's 17-year-old son, and two children of her own. Sick. Deputy District Attorney Bethel Cope Vega told jurors during closing arguments that Myra may have aimed the brunt of the abuse at the one girl over anger at her biological mother, with whom Myra and her husband were apparently embroiled in a vicious custody battle with. So now you're starting to get, again, there's no excuse, but you're starting to get the picture of what the motive was here.

They're in a custody battle, a heated custody battle with this 10-year-old girl's biological mother. So she's taking that anger out on the girl herself, her anger at the mother? Well, that's what my question was going to be. Is the motive that she's so frustrated by these legal proceedings that she is taking that frustration out on the daughter because that's an easy scapegoat or is she trying to actually i mean because obviously this happened over the course of an extended period of time so was she trying to harm the child for good so that she didn't have the child in her care any longer or was it just mere like taking her stress out on her because I mean to starve a child into being almost 50 pounds I mean that is there must be some intention there right or I mean you

would think so my just to level set my four-year-old is almost 40 pounds so it's like that's crazy when you think about it and I would imagine because the fact that she looped in her children in this and made them not only watch but participate, is that done in an effort to make them think it's okay? To make them complicit in things to where they won't tell because they're involved, like some sort of manipulation tactic? I would imagine that it would be because you're stressed and you hate this little girl, this innocent child in all of this, this little girl, this innocent child in all of this, because now you're in a heated exchange with the bio mother who you probably also resent for other because she's the ex. Like, I don't know. It's like there's no way to even wrap your mind around it.

But normally in custody battles, I've found that it's the parent is trying to gain full custody. So they're either doing something terrible to the mother or to the other spouse or other parent um or then yeah trying to get the child in their good graces totally so that's why i'm confused what the motive here is and we don't know the details and we'll get into more of the details in a second but like did the bio father just stand by and allow all of this to happen and then like when it got too crazy is when he went to the hospital, which let me continue and then share your thoughts with me on what you think. So they were in this vicious custody battle, and that's apparently the motive

and all of that in all of this. And so the prosecutor had said, and I quote, this is a case about what happens behind closed doors, but it is also a case about diabolical creativity. It is a case about power. The prosecutor described Myra as sadistic, telling jurors that she systematically dehumanized her 10-year-old stepdaughter, saying she found ways to up the ante. She sat around thinking about new ways to torture her. Now, as this is all unfolding, you would think slam dunk case, right? What are they going to even say to like try to have some sort of leg to stand

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Well in enters Myra's defense attorney into the chat. And Myra's attorney, alternate defender Tom Nocella, told the jurors that Myra herself had suffered an abusive childhood and that she was just trying to discipline, not torture. And she was saying that she was trying to discipline this child who Myra, quote, couldn't understand or control. Which, let me just say, disciplining a child isn't putting hot peppers on their genitals or in their eyes. Like, unless you are Ruby Frankie, which, God. That's so crazy. As you were saying this, in my mind, that's exactly what the name that popped up. Yeah. I was thinking, what is with these mothers thinking these extreme disciplinary actions like how does that even become an option exactly which i don't think it was for discipline i think it was for her own sixth sense of power because that is taking it to the extremes and if it was strictly for discipline

where was the what was the daughter doing exactly yeah uncontrollable what were the actions exactly and like where was was there any other sort ofrollable what were the actions exactly and like where was was there any other sort of discipline like that in the household with the other kids so far we know that she made them partake and watch but what about the actual physical acts on them i was going to ask that how long has she been married to the father it's unclear okay it's unclear um how long i would imagine it had to be somewhat recent if they're still in this crazy custody battle over a 10-year-old little girl, but I'm not sure. So her defense attorney continued saying she thought that this was what discipline was, which again, nobody in their right mind is

going to think that discipline is having a 10-year-old child kneel on raw rice or starve them. Give me a break right now. He also went on to say that she suffered from anxiety and depression. Oh, boo-hoo. The defense attorney argued that there wasn't the intent on Myra's part needed to find her guilty of torture, saying, we all agree the injuries are there. The injuries are horrible. We all agree on that, but there wasn't intent there, which, again, I have to call bullshit on that. how is there not intent for torture when you're premeditating this stuff and on top of it you're rallying your other children to participate there is no way that that's not intent yeah otherwise you would go in to stop it and a hundred percent

and it's like oh let me zip tie you to the TV stand. But it's not intentional to hurt you. Let me hog tie you and put habanero peppers in your eyes. That's not intending to torture you. Are you kidding? And if at first glance, all of the medical team at Chalk initially thought this child was much younger and was teary eyed over the condition and health of the child, again, if it wasn't intentional, you would immediately notice your child's losing weight or... Totally. I mean, amongst all the other signs. Absolutely, which I get it. It's the defense attorney's job to paint

whatever picture they can and try to have an excuse for their client, but like nobody's buying it. Well, we'll see if anybody's buying it. Better not. I know. So they go through the whole trial, and on October 11th, an Orange County Superior Court jury deliberated for roughly five hours before finding Myra guilty of torture related to one girl, two counts of felony child abuse related to two other young girls, and a lesser charge of misdemeanor simple assault related to a teen boy. Myra now faces a potential maximum sentence of seven years to life in prison for the torture conviction, also up to 10 years for the child abuse convictions, and four months behind bars

for the assault conviction, the misdemeanor one, and her sentencing is scheduled for November 3rd. I mean, personally, I don't think seven years is enough, but we'll see what the sentencing is scheduled for November 3rd. I mean personally I don't think seven years is enough but we'll see what the sentencing comes. Just out of curiosity um yeah like why wouldn't that be considered attempted murder? That's a great question or like something with premeditated maybe because the injuries didn't go that far like maybe there wasn't true actual like loss of life on yeah like on the table yeah maybe because it didn't get to that which but who knows what the intent really was right in any event in a happier piece of information here the little girl is alive today as a direct result of the heroic efforts by chalkalk to save her life. The prosecutor then said in a written statement following the verdict,

Child abuse cannot and will not be normalized. Horrific things happen behind closed doors, and we remain more committed than ever as prosecutors and law enforcement officials to throw open those doors and shed light on the most vulnerable of victims who are suffering in silence. Now, if you're not wondering already, what about her dad? Yeah. What happened to her dad? So let's talk about what's happening with her bio dad. So as all of this happened, and as she was found guilty, meanwhile, Domingo Jr.

Flores is awaiting his own trial, facing charges that include torture, child abuse, torture, child abuse, endangerment, and causing great bodily injury. Now, very few details have been released in this case, and I actually tried to access a lot of the court documents and police documents, and it was very difficult to do so. I'm guessing because he still hasn't gone to trial yet. But what I will say is for them to feel confident enough to put charges against him of torture child abuse it's my opinion and i could be wrong we'll see that he was complicit in all of this that he wasn't just seeing what had happened that it got went too far so he went and took her to the hospital if he himself is being charged with torture charges and child abuse i think they both in some sick way were doing this but again again, it begs the question, if you're fighting for full custody or whatever the custody arrangement is,

why do you want the custody if you're just going to do this? And like, don't you feel like when it's time for the court to come in and step in and evaluate who the primary parent should be or what those custody situations should look like, that they're probably going to interview the child, that they're probably going to look at her overall health and condition and welfare while she's been in your custody. It makes no sense. Make it make sense. I have speculation. Oh, okay. Please tell. Please share. This is just a theory, and I obviously, this is the first I've heard of it. I have done no research on my own, but what it sounds like is that this might be a fairly new relationship between the bio dad and the stepmother and to your point that's probably why they're in the middle of this

custody battle and we know a lot of women get insecure about that about the bio mom and for her to not only take out her aggression from the custody battle on the child but then also to have this hierarchy and want to really unleash this violence on this child to prove that they are this powerful authoritative figure to me screams insecurity so it's like i think the insecurity of the bio mom the insecurity now that this daughter is part of that relationship and for her to feel like she's in control if you will she's become this monster and the dad is probably whipped more yeah and it was complicit maybe not initially because he wanted to be, but because he's in love

and love makes you do crazy things. And I think once it got to probably a certain point and who knows how many times he tried to interfere, but hopefully he tried to interfere before. It's sick. Oh, I know. I'm'm gonna be interested to get my hands on those documents, but also to see what happens in his trial and if other evidence is brought forward and what we see with that. But overall, I feel like this case really does just kind of underscore the nightmare that can unfold within the walls of these family homes where these parents are more like monsters and they get off on this power, this control, and it just serves as a reminder that there is such a high level of urgency and just a primary focus that there needs to be some sort of protection in place for vulnerable kids. Because

I get it, there's no right answer with the system, but the fact that there was a welfare check and then they left on their own accord, who what just what theatrics she was displaying what the condition looked like maybe the weight of the little girl was still somewhat normal at that point but like how do you even have you have the systems in place who are supposed to help aid in this to make sure it doesn't get this to this level in this degree when those systems are broken and clearly not working what do you do like i just feel like there has to be a better checks and balances and i don't know the answer to that it's really scary and not just the systems in play because we've seen time and time again where people try to do the right thing they notify they go out things

appear to be normal and so now then you hear something terrible like this happen, but also a safe space for the other children for when they were seeing their mom do this and potentially the bio dad, like why didn't they feel comfortable? And it sounds like they were having harm done to them as well. So why didn't they have a trusted source or someone in their life that was seeing what was happening to protect them and for them to maybe give insight into what was going on at home so it could have been stopped much sooner? Totally. And it makes me actually question also, so we know that the uncle came forward and said and was open with the abuse that was happening. So how long did he know about that? Was it something he had had just learned was it maybe a confession they had given to him on the side why if he did sit on that information i'm not trying

to blame the uncle in any aspect here but like i think there's just still a lot of holes and still a lot more that we have to learn about like who all knew about what was going on who all participated how did it go on for so long and who who really is responsible in this, how many people. Well, and the bio mom, like, wasn't the daughter being passed back and forth, so would she have not noticed any signs, and did she, did she speak up? Maybe she was fighting for custody because she knew something was wrong, and maybe they weren't getting her access. That'll be interesting to hear, because obviously if she saw anything, hopefully she would have been speaking up. Totally.

Anytime there's a case with minors, it's very hard to get access to all the information, especially if there's any sort of pending charges. So hopefully we'll know more once he goes to trial. But at least in a spin of positive news on this, in the wake of the tragedy, a donation fund for the children has been established and it's being overseen by the Anaheim Family Justice Center. So hopefully they're at least getting the donations and the funds so that they can have the

resources to heal from this, to get the therapy they need from this, to be placed with family members who love them or other foster families potentially who will take care of them. Because you have to think, like the fallout, it's not just this little girl now, it's all of the siblings who had the same kind of acts or similar ones inflicted on them, the mental torture and abuse of having to participate and witness these things, then being ripped away from your siblings. Like, at such a young age, how do you even reconcile that? It's like you would- It's so layered. Yeah, you'd have to go through, I would imagine, so much therapy and help and resources. So hopefully they're getting that.

Yeah, absolutely. I would imagine so much therapy and help and resources. So hopefully they're getting that. Yeah, absolutely. All right. Well, thank you guys for tuning in to today's episode of Serialistly. This is definitely a new segment that we're doing. It's true crime with Amy and Annie or with Annie and Amy.

I don't know what sounds better. But let me know in the comment section on Spotify and the review section over on Apple if you like this segment, if you want to hear more from Amy, if we should do this more frequently where we just share cases or share a case together, I mean, we could kind of do it however you guys want. And I always want to pivot this podcast into the content you guys want and deliver that. So your feedback is absolutely crucial. So please just take an extra 30 seconds, leave a rating of the podcast and then the review. And in that review section, i read those reviews so please give me your feedback your constructive criticism if you have some as well please be nice and let me know if this is a segment you like and we could definitely do it again and do more of it

but i appreciate you jumping on here i didn't have this planned amy was here for other reasons today and i literally just put it on her i was like by the way now that you're here what if we report record a podcast together? So I appreciate it. You were a really good sport. Thanks for having me. And it was nice. I got to just talk to her crying with my sissy like the old days. I know. Thanks for having me. Sorry I cried. It's okay. I'm kind of used to you crying. I feel like not in a bad way. I just, unfortunately, because there's so much heaviness going on in the world, I feel like. And you're an empath. I like that. All right, guys. Thanks again for tuning in.

And I will see you or talk to you bright and early Thursday morning with this week's headline highlights. Until then, stay safe, hug your loved ones, and do your rating and review. All right. Bye, guys.

Signing off. Bye. All right. And before we go, guys, make sure to snag all of those amazing deals from today's sponsors. All of the links are in the show notes below along with the promo codes. Snag those deals. They are amazing. And I'm telling you,

you guys are going to be obsessed with all of these things.