Great-aunt says she had no idea 3 kids killed in Phoenix were in danger

PHOENIX — A relative of the three young children allegedly killed by their mother in Phoenix this week says she had no idea the kids were in danger.

Pearl Rebolledo, the kids’ great-aunt, told ABC15 she never thought 22-year-old Rachel Henry was capable of killing her children.

Police said Henry admitted to smothering the children — ages 3, 1 and 7 months — one by one Monday night at a home near Baseline Road and 24th Street, where the family of five lived with Rebolledo and her husband.

Henry allegedly then placed the children on the couch as if they were sleeping, before Rebolledo and the children’s father realized they were unresponsive and called 911.

Rebolledo told the TV station Henry told her she was putting the kids down for a nap. The children’s father, was asleep on the couch. Neither had any idea what Henry was actually doing, Rebolledo said.

Family members told police Henry had a methamphetamine addiction and had recently been acting strange, according to police documents.

She was arrested Tuesday and booked on three counts of first-degree murder. Bond was set at $3 million.

Rebolledo said the medical examiner was releasing the children’s bodies Thursday and she’d like to take them to Oklahoma, where the family had recently lived.

She started a GoFundMe fundraiser to collect money for the expenses.

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