MIAMI — The mother of a 10-year-old girl who was found dead in an exterminator’s truck in Florida was charged Saturday with murder and faces numerous other abuse and neglect accusations.
Carmen Barahona was arrested in the death of Nubia Barahona, the Miami-Dade Police Department said nearly three weeks after the girl was found in the pickup along Interstate 95 in West Palm Beach. She had been wrapped in plastic and doused with a toxic chemical.
Her twin brother, Victor, was in the front seat critically burned by a chemical, authorities said. Their father was on the ground nearby, unresponsive. Police said the father doused the boy with a chemical so toxic it sickened rescue workers.
The father, Jorge Barahona, also apparently put gasoline on himself in what he later told police was a suicide attempt by setting himself on fire.
Jorge Barahona has pleaded not guilty to attempted first-degree murder in the injury of Victor, who has been released from the hospital.
Carmen Barahona also faces seven counts of aggravated child abuse and seven counts of child neglect. Her attorney didn’t immediately respond to an e-mail, and police refused to elaborate on what led to the charges.
