Woman, Teen Charged In Deaths Of 2 Children Found In NorCal Storage Unit
REDDING (CBS SF) – A 39-year-old woman and a 17-year-old boy have been charged for the deaths of two children and the abuse of a 9-year-old girl found outside the Bay Area because prosecutors believe the alleged crimes occurred in Salinas, the Monterey County District Attorney's Office announced Monday.
Tami Joy Huntsman and Gonzalo Curiel are each facing various felony charges: two counts of murder, three counts of torture, one count of child abuse, prosecutors said.
The pair has also been charged with two counts of conspiracy: one for torture and the other for child abuse, prosecutors said.
They are also facing special circumstances allegations, which can lead to the death penalty for Huntsman, according to prosecutors.
Curiel is being charged as an adult and cannot face the death penalty as a juvenile, prosecutors said.
Curiel was 16 years old when the crimes were carried out, according to an eight-page complaint released Tuesday by the District Attorney's Office.
The pair is accused of abusing three children in Huntsman's custody, two of whom died and a 9-year-old girl found injured at an apartment in Quincy, a community in Plumas County, on Dec. 11, police said.
The suspects were also arrested Dec. 11 on suspicion of felony child abuse, torture and mayhem, according to police.
Their investigation into the abused girl led them to Redding in Shasta County, where authorities found two children's bodies inside a plastic container at a rented storage unit on Dec. 13, according to police.
The deceased have not been positively identified by the Shasta County coroner's office, but are believed to be 6-year-old Shaun Tara and 3-year-old Delylah Tara, police said.
On Dec. 13, Plumas County sheriff's investigators contacted Salinas police to request a search for Delylah, Shuan and an apartment on Fremont Street where the suspects used to live, according to police.
Authorities have been unable to find the children, who were placed into a statewide missing persons database, police said.
In the complaint filed Friday in Monterey County Superior Court, the conspiracy charges allege the defendants didn't give the 9-year-old girl proper clothing, shelter, nourishment or medical care.
Instead, the suspects restrained her multiple times, kicked her and broke her bones, according to the complaint.
The suspects had traveled from Salinas, Redding, Quincy and Shingletown in Shasta County from Nov. 27 to Dec. 11, according to police.
The complaint alleges the two children died on or around Nov. 27 and all three of them were tortured since Dec. 13, 2014.
The suspects had also on booked a room at a Motel 6 in Dunnigan, a Yolo County community outside Sacramento, on Nov. 28, police said.
Huntsman is in custody at Plumas County Jail while Curiel has been booked into Butte County Juvenile Hall, according to prosecutors.
It may take a week or more for the defendants to be transported to Monterey County, prosecutors said.
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