OMAREE VARELA - 9 yo/ Charged: Mother; Synthia Varela-Casaus - Albuquerque NM

Mom pleas not guilty in son’s death

By Chris McKee
Published: Friday, January 24, 2014, 12:53 pm

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) – The Albuquerque mom accused of killing her 9-year-old son is maintaining her innocence.

With tears in her eyes, Synthia Varela-Casaus stood in court Friday as her public defender entered a plea for her.

“Your honor we’ve had a chance to review the indictment with Ms. Varela-Casaus, she understands the charges against her and the possible penalties…she enters the plea of not guilty on all counts,” Jeff Buckels, public defender, said.

The “not guilty” plea is along the line of what Varela-Casaus has said since she was arrested just few days after Christmas.

That’s when her son, 9-year-old Omaree Varela, was found dead at their northeast Albuquerque home.

Investigators say Varela-Casaus admitted to repeatedly kicking the boy in the stomach. She later told the media that it was an accident and that she had kicked Omaree “the wrong way.”

She told a judge in metro court as well that it was an accident.

Varela-Casaus has been in jail since her arrest. She’s being held on a $100,000 cash only bond, which a judge upheld Friday.

Since Omaree’s death, Governor Martinez says ordered CYFD to review its prior contact with Varela-Casaus to see if case agents followed all proper rules and procedure.

That investigation is ongoing.

This case has prompted the governor to take a closer look at child abuse legislation this session.

http://krqe.com/2014/01/24/mom-pleas-not-guilty-in-sons-death/

Mom accused of kicking son to death tells 911 his sibling pushed him



Updated: 01/28/2014 12:52 PM | Created: 01/28/2014 11:48 AM
By: Nikki Ibarra and Elizabeth Reed, KOB Eyewitness News 4

Audio of the 911 call an Albuquerque mother made after police said she killed her son has been released.

Police said Synthia Varela-Casaus kicked her 9-year-old son, Omaree, to death last month. Varela-Casaus has pleaded not guilty to several charges, including child abuse resulting in death.

In her call to police, Varela-Casaus told the dispatcher Omaree was pushed off a metal horse by her 2-year-old son.

Dispatcher: He was pushed off a metal horse?
Varela-Casaus: He was playing on it and my little boy gets real aggressive and doesn't like to share. And so I thought Omaree's leg had got stuck and he had enough time to catch himself. But he didn't catch himself. I heard him hit his head.

Varela-Casaus told the dispatcher she tried giving him CPR, but at the time of the call, she said he was still breathing.

When officers arrived at the house, they found Omaree unresponsive.

Police said Varela-Casaus later admitted to kicking her son so hard that he fell and hit his head twice. She said it was an accident.

Varela-Casaus' other two children remain in state custody.

http://www.kob.com/article/stories/s3301075.shtml#.UulIELS0t6k