The three children who Denver police say were nearly drowned by their mother a week ago are being returned to their fathers, an attorney for the mother said Friday.
Two sisters, ages 2 and 3, are being turned over to their father in Denver, said attorney Ken Ogawa. The third, a 7-year-old boy, is being returned to his father in Texas, he said.
The mother of the three, Brenda Hernandez, 24, appeared Friday in Denver County Court, where she was advised she has been charged with three counts of attempted first-degree murder. The counts allege she tried to drown her children in a bathtub on Feb. 10.
Denver County Judge Melvin Okamoto scheduled Hernandez’s preliminary hearing for March 12.
As she entered the courtroom, Hernandez spotted Ogawa in the general seating area and smiled broadly. Ogawa represents Hernandez in her dependency and neglect case in Denver Juvenile Court.
On Thursday, Juvenile Magistrate Bernard Messer granted custody of the children to the two fathers, Ogawa said.
Ogawa said that the Denver Department of Human Services filed a petition of dependency and neglect against Hernandez, a common step taken when the safety and well-being of children are a concern.
Hernandez “can try to get the kids back, but nothing has been done yet,” Ogawa said. “It is her right to go to trial and force the department to prove that the children were dependent or neglected.”
Prosecutors claim that Denver police interrupted Hernandez’s attempt to drown the three children after they went to Hernandez’s home in the 3100 block of West Mexico Avenue on a welfare check. Elizabeth Rodriquez, Hernandez’s sister, called police after Hernandez allegedly told Rodriquez she wanted to die.
At the home, officers who knocked at the door heard a voice inside say, “There’s no one home. There is no one here. Go away,” said Lynn Kimbrough, spokeswoman for the Denver district attorney’s office. Moments later, a nude Hernandez reportedly burst through the door and confronted the officers.
Inside, police found all three children undressed in the bathroom. All had been in the bathtub, Kimbrough said.
Although purportedly confrontational at the time of the alleged drowning attempt, Hernandez’s demeanor was dramatically different Friday. She held her head up and appeared alert during the short proceeding.
Staff writer Howard Pankratz can be reached at 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
