Grisly story of how child possibly died: Missing girl's mom, stepdad to stand trial
Jason...@virgin.net
to stand trial
By Wayne Wilson
Bee Staff Writer
(Published June 12, 1999)
A horror story of bleach cocktails, dismemberment and a fireplace
cremation unfolded in a Sacramento courtroom Friday as investigators
told a judge how they believe a child was killed by her mother and
stepfather, reduced to ashes and thrown in the river.
After hearing the prosecution's explanation of 5-year-old Alexia Reale's
disappearance, Superior Court Judge James L. Long ruled that, despite
the absence of a corpse, there is sufficient evidence to try Barbara
Carrasco, 36, and her husband, Larry Carrasco, 51, on murder charges.
The Carrascos have been charged with 11 counts of child abuse since
October 1997 when Barbara Carrasco's 13-year-old daughter complained to
Elk Grove school officials, who noticed burns on her arms, back and
hips. Authorities have accused her mom and stepdad of dousing the teen
with bleach.
When detectives inquired about Barbara Carrasco's youngest child,
Alexia, they were told she had gone to Chicago to live with her father,
Charles Cheng.
But Cheng told police he hadn't seen the girl in months, sheriff's
Detective Ramona Feuillard testified Friday.
And another of Barbara Carrasco's former husbands reported that Carrasco
had "never liked Alexia," had been known to swear at the child and put a
lit cigarette lighter under the baby's feet as she dangled them from her
high chair, Feuillard said.
After their arrest, each Carrasco began to blame the other for Alexia's
disappearance, the detective said.
Barbara Carrasco told her bail bondsman that her husband had tied Alexia
to a chair, drowned her, cut her into pieces, burned the body parts in
the family fireplace and then dumped the ashes and the cutting tools in
the Sacramento River, Feuillard said.
Larry Carrasco told a similar story but blamed his wife in statements to
a cellmate, the detective testified.
According to Larry Carrasco's version, his wife smothered Alexia while
trying to perform an exorcism, after which the body was dismembered and
incinerated, Alexia's ashes spread in the river.
The most detailed description of Alexia's death emerged when her teenage
sister met with prosecutor Marv Stern and his investigator, Gary Wagg,
the testimony showed.
According to the sister, she and Alexia were placed on a regimen of
hamburgers and bleach cocktails shortly after they returned with their
parents from an eight-day automobile trip to Pennsylvania, Wagg related.
Throughout the trip, the Carrascos were "talking about demons and
vampires and people that were after them," the 13-year-old told Stern
and Wagg.
The bleach drinks, mixed with ice cream and garlic, were given to the
girls three times a day over an eight-day period, purportedly in an
effort to "get the demons out" of the children, Wagg reported.
On the eighth day, the older girl emerged from her bedroom to find
Alexia lying on the hallway floor, her mother leaning over her,
apparently attempting mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, she told the
prosecutor.
A few hours later, the 13-year-old was told her sister, whom she could
see "lifeless" in the closet of the master bedroom, was dead, and that
if anyone were to ask, she should say Alexia had gone to live with her
father in Chicago.
Barbara Carrasco then "cut Alexia up into small pieces, using a little
saw and meat cleaver," Wagg testified, quoting the 13-year-old. And
Larry Carrasco went into the living room to start the fire that was used
to cremate the remains.
After the burning of the body, he gathered the ashes, scrubbing the
fireplace clean with bleach, and then threw the ashes, cleaver and saw
into the Sacramento River, Wagg testified.
At the close of Friday's preliminary hearing, Judge Long granted a
prosecution motion to consolidate the murder and assault charge relating
to the death of Alexia with the 11 counts of child abuse in the alleged
mistreatment of the 13-year-old.
Both defendants pleaded innocent and were given an Aug. 3 trial date.