The Arizona woman convicted in the killing of her two children was suddenly found dead after spending two years in prison for her crimes. However, authorities ruled out foul play leading them to another, tragic conclusion.
Retta Cruse, 36, was currently serving a life sentence for the 2021 killing of her two daughters. Back then, Phoenix police responded to her home after one of the girl’s fathers, Michael Coleman, called 911 to report finding the children unresponsive. Police said one they walked inside the home, they found 9-year-old Aleyah and 4-year-old Royal deceased in a bed. According to ABC 15’s report, police determined Cruse fed them both prescription and over-the-counter medications to purposely cause the two to suffer an overdose.
At the time of the incident, Cruse was still inside the home, police said. However, they said she was barricaded in her bedroom, unconscious on the bed with self-inflicted knife wounds on her body.
According to court documents, Cruse admitted to the killings, claiming her motive was bitterness behind losing a custody battle for her eldest child, via 12 News. She also allegedly told police she premeditated a plan to kill both herself and her children, per AZ Central’s report.
Cruse pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder. She was sentenced to two life sentences behind bars in 2022 and booked into the Arizona Department of Corrections. However, the department issued a notice last month saying she died Feb. 21.
The announcement said prison staff discovered Cruse unresponsive in their housing unit and conducted life-saving measures until paramedics arrived. The responding medics pronounced her dead at the scene. The department concluded she died in an “apparent act of self-harm by hanging.”