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JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL

Mom of 7 Dead Infants `A Great Babysitter`

Aired April 15, 2014 - 19:00:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Raymond will never see the light of another day outside the prison walls.

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST: Tonight, breaking news. Stunning new developments in the case of the Utah mom accused of giving birth to seven babies, then immediately strangling or suffocating at least six of them before hiding their bodies in the garage.

In a moment, I`ll talk exclusively to the alleged serial baby killer`s neighbor. How did nobody notice what was happening inside this Utah home?

Good evening. I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell, coming to you live.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police found the remains of seven dead babies.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really nice. I mean, she made cookies for all the kids.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He trusted Huntsman to even watch his three children.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s been in my house, watching my kids, watching my nephew numerous times.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Came across a suspicious package with a pungent odor.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I always say a good babysitter, because she baby-sat my grandchild.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gave birth to, then killed at least six babies.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We never saw any evidence of pregnancies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: mTonight, 39-year-old Megan Huntsman is charged with six counts of murder, and she`s being held on a $6 million bond after her husband, seen here in a newly-obtained mug shot for a drug-related arrest eight years ago, said he stumbled upon one dead infant inside a box while cleaning out the garage.

Now when cops arrived, they found six more dead infants, all wrapped in a T-shirt or a towel, stuffed into a plastic bag and then placed into individual cardboard boxes. And cops say these infants were all born between 1996 and 2006, a ten-year span.

Cops say Megan has confessed. And now she`s representing herself in court at her bond hearing. She doesn`t sound like she has a care in the world. Listen to her respond to her $6 million bond.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ma`am?

MEGAN HUNTSMAN, ACCUSED OF KILLING SIX BABIES: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your response?

HUNTSMAN: That`s fine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: That`s fine? Really? How can anything be fine with this woman right now?

Megan`s neighbors and friends say they didn`t even know Megan was pregnant those seven times. Even more chilling, Megan frequently baby-sat in the neighborhood.

Tonight, we`re learning Megan has had a new boyfriend for the past two years. He is devastated to learn his girlfriend might be a cold-blooded baby serial killer. Here`s the boyfriend`s brother.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nothing at all. She was, like, just really nice. Never would have guessed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Why do you think she did it? Call me: 1-877-JVM- SAYS, 1-877-586-7297. I want to hear from you. We have a fantastic Lion`s Den panel ready to debate tonight.

But first, straight out to my exclusive guest, a neighbor of Megan Huntsman for 14 years. Real-estate agent and mother of three, Sandee Wall.

Sandee, thank you so much for joining us. I know this has got to be difficult and confusing.

Now, some people say Megan Huntsman was the ideal neighbor, making cookies, babysitting; nice, friendly. Tell us about Megan from your perspective.

SANDEE WALL, NEIGHBOR (via phone): Well, from my perspective, she really wasn`t very friendly. I did live right next door to her. And we kind of shared one large driveway. I tried to, you know, be friend with her, but she was very, very quiet. And emotionally, you know, quite cold.

I loved her daughters. They`re great girls. And she was just very, very hard to get to know, no matter what I tried to do. And I`m a friendly person. And I went all out. And just -- I`m going to say cold kind of person.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, when you think about it, if you`re going to strangle six of your babies, and put them in the garage, you`d have to be somewhat cold.

I mean, what was your reaction when you first heard this? I mean, it shocked the whole country. But you`re living right next door.

WALL: Oh, I was devastated. I -- to me, it`s such a sadness that these little babies never had a chance to come into the world And stay very long. And it just broke my heart. And, you know, made me just -- you know, sick to my stomach, Especially living right next door to her.

And then the two daughters, you hate to say it, but she allowed to let live. The older two young adults and the one that`s almost 14. Why was she picked, when I think about it?

And now I just -- you know, I picture, every time I look at the garage, seeing those babies in there, Hidden. And I don`t know. It -- it`s just devastating that those little ones didn`t have a chance. Breaks my heart.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, Sandee, let me ask you this question. You said that sometimes, even though most people said they never had any idea she was pregnant those seven times, that you kind of noticed something odd. Tell us.

WALL: I did. My house is about 100 feet down from the street. And so I`m down a little bit further, not really seeing her front door. And the places that I would see her would maybe be on a deck in their backyard. She lived upstairs. It was a duplex-type home. What we call in Utah a mother-in-law apartment was the basement.

And I would see her many times walking up the driveway, and I would think to myself, "boy, she`s put on some weight." Because she`s really very tiny, like 105 pounds, 5`4." And I said to myself many times, "Boy, she looks pregnant." And it was just because, you know, the way the tummy looked to me. And I guess just being a mother and -- she wasn`t hiding it very well, in my opinion.

And I -- many times said that to myself, but no baby ever came that I knew. And you kind of dismiss it out of your mind. But she did -- the weight wise would go up and down like a yo-yo. Certainly.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, Sandee, you know her husband, estranged husband, too. How could he not notice? How could he -- cops believe he`s the one who impregnated her all these times and that he`s living with her and has no idea? I mean, I find that very hard to believe.

CALLER: Well, me too. Me too. But I do know for sure, have been told pretty directly that her first two children, you did not know that she was pregnant. One person said, "We have to go meet Megan at the hospital."

And the other person said "Why?"

"She`s having a baby."

"What?" Everyone was shocked. And I think it was that way with her first two, that no one ever knew.

But I mean, this is my feeling, too. I had my last two babies at home. How in the world could you hide something like this? I had a midwife and supposedly she had no one. And how can you hide something like this? Especially from your husband and your other children?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I agree with you. Sandee, I just want you to stand by for a second. Because you`re really giving us so many insights.

Dr. Tiffanie Davis-Henry, I think the thing that people find most difficult to swallow is that the husband, who`s according to police the one who impregnated her, although the DNA tests are not back yet, purportedly, has no idea that she`s pregnant these seven times. And also that you`re going to deliver seven babies on your own in the house? And not -- and nobody is going to notice this?

DR. TIFFANIE DAVIS-HENRY, PSYCHOLOGIST: I have no idea how she pulled this one off. It -- you know, when people -- when moms, especially, tend to kill their newborn children, they tend to be young. They tend to be unmarried. They tend to be socially isolated. You know, they do it kind of very much under the radar.

But she`s living in a house with a husband, with other children. It`s almost impossible that no one would have picked up on it.

Now, if she lied it away, explained it away -- "Well, I`m just going through some weight changes and this that and the other," maybe. But there is -- you kind of know when someone`s pregnant, Jane. You know!

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. And you heard Sandee say, "Yes, you know, it kind of looked to me like she was pregnant." But, you know, who`s going to march across the street and confront somebody?

DAVIS-HENRY: Right, right.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And also...

DAVIS-HENRY: Isn`t that our worst nightmare, though, Jane, asking somebody if they`re pregnant and then finding out oh, no, they`re just fat? Sorry. Sorry about that.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And it`s happened to me. It`s happened to me. I`ve done that. And that is, you know, horrifying.

DAVIS-HENRY: Right.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s something you don`t want to do. So, you know, the big question here is why.

The community and Megan`s family are shocked. They`re confused. Why would this seemingly normal, if somewhat cold, woman kill six infants and hide a seventh who was reportedly stillborn?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who knows what was going through her mind? Maybe she was just depressed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, this isn`t the first woman to kill her kids. Remember Andrea Yates? She drowned her five kids in the tub. But there was a clear psychological breakdown. She suffered from postpartum psychosis. She was hearing voices that commanded her to kill, which are called command hallucinations.

There`s also a fascinating case in France, a woman charged with giving birth and then smothering eight babies over 17 years. Dead babies discovered by somebody gardening. The parallels to this Utah mom are just eerie.

Both happened around the same time. The French woman also hid most of the corpses in the garage. She also had children, two of them, who lived and grew up, seemingly clueless, as well as a clueless husband.

That woman allegedly told cops that here`s her motive. She just didn`t want to have any more babies, but she didn`t want to see the doctor for birth control.

So straight out to the Lion`s Den. Dr. Judy Ho, clinical psychologist, could Megan be just like this French woman: she didn`t want to have any more babies, and she didn`t want to take contraception?

DR. JUDY HO, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, that`s definitely a possibility, Jane, especially if she`s not very educated and doesn`t understand the resources that are around.

But I feel like it`s beyond that, as well. I mean, I know that people have been floating, is she depressed, is there postpartum depression? But seven times? Seven babies? I just feel like there`s something amiss here.

I think that, more than anything, it`s possible that there was somebody that was helping her with this. Because how can one person get away with all of this on her own? I feel like there was definitely somebody else who knew about what was going on, at least in some of these murders. Because it just doesn`t make any sense.

And I think she might have a personality that`s a little bit more like somebody who we would refer to as antisocial, where you just do things because it`s your impulse, it`s your beliefs, it`s what you want. And it doesn`t really matter what happens. It doesn`t really matter...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Antisocial, though. We`re going to play a whole bunch of sound bites of neighbors...

JON LEIBERMAN, HLN CONTRIBUTOR: Jane, Jane, interesting because...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: ... saying she baby-sat for the kids and brought cookies. Go ahead, Jon.

LEIBERMAN: Well...

HO: Antisocial individuals...

LEIBERMAN: I`m told that there was a very lengthy...

HO: Sorry. Go ahead, Jon.

LEIBERMAN: I`m told there was a very lengthy interrogation of her, and during the interrogation, she was very matter-of-fact and aloof. And it`s interesting, because I`m told in the interrogation she addressed almost everything else except the why.

And so investigators now for the why are questioning the estranged husband, the boyfriend, her daughters. They`re going all around her circle to try and come up with some sort of motive here, because they got absolutely no motive out of their extensive questioning of her.

ANNA YUM, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Right. I mean, this clearly is a case about mental illness. I would be very surprised to find out that it`s anything but that. I mean, think about it. One infant dead, maybe was an accident, maybe it was someone who was evil. But six or seven? That`s reprehensible. You can`t even think about that. And not only that...

LEIBERMAN: But if we chalk it up to mental illness, are we giving her a pass?

YUM: ... if you don`t want to have babies, stop having sex.

LEIBERMAN: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well...

HO: We`re not giving her a pass.

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hold on a second. Everything is mental illness. You know, here`s my theory. If you kill somebody, you`re mentally ill. If you pop somebody, you`re mentally ill. I think the very act of killing is an illness.

Unless you`re hearing command hallucinations, where the devil and the angels are talking in your head, like Jodi -- excuse me, like Andrea Yates, and she was being commanded by voices in her head, because she had had a psychotic break, that`s mental illness. Anything else less than that, I`m sorry, I don`t buy it.

And on the other side of the break, calls are lining up. And we`re going to ask a very, very provocative question. Given stuff like this -- and we covered this stuff all of the time -- should we require people to get a license before having kids? Just like we get a driver`s license before we can drive. That`s on the other side.

By the way, we`ve got breaking news just in. Miley Cyrus has been hospitalized. So we`re just learning this now. She`s tweeting. We`ve got a Twitter photo, apparently. What happened to the mega star?

But first, we`ve got a lot more to do on this obscenity, seven babies, corpses, in the garage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That same morning, police got a call.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We came across a suspicious box.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Inside the box...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An infant that was deceased in the box.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And six more small cardboard boxes were discovered by police. Each with an even tinier body inside.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A neighbor across the street who was too disturbed to go on camera watched through his surveillance video as police carried the lifeless infants out of the dark home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t know how something like this can even happen, but it did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: The biggest question in this case, the horrific why. Why did she do it? Let`s throw out some possibilities.

Maybe Megan Huntsman killed the babies to protect them from somebody like her husband. Who knows? Remember, he`s a convicted rapist.

Perhaps the babies were conceived through an affair, and she killed them to keep the affair secret, even though cops think her husband is the dad of all seven.

Maybe she hated the children`s father, and she killed them out of revenge.

Or maybe these weren`t even her children and she`s protecting someone else.

Out to the phone lines. Cathy, Ohio, you have a theory that involves gender? Cathy. Go ahead, Cathy. You have a theory that involves gender?

CALLER: Yes. I`m just curious, do we know what the gender of the babies is?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Apparently, no. We don`t, at this point. I mean, the cops know. But they haven`t released that information.

I want to go back to our exclusive guest, Sandee Wall. You lived next door to this accused baby killer for 14 years. Now, let`s ask two questions. One, some people have speculated maybe she`s covering up for her children. She`s got three daughters. The oldest in her 20s. Hypothetically, she -- the age shows that, in 2006, she might have been of child-bearing age. What do you have to say about that possibility?

WALL: You know, I did see her kids a lot, the girls. And I can guarantee you they were never pregnant. I saw them on a real continual basis. So, you know...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Have you seen them since all this broke? Have you seen them since this broke? They must be devastated.

WALL: I have. And I mean, one, they just cover their faces, because of the media that`s -- they`re still there. All of the local channels are there. They`re living at grandma and grandpa`s now, and they`re the ones that own the home.

But I know that they have not liked their mother for years. I mean, years. The mother was basically kicked out of the house, and it was for alcohol and drugs.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh.

WALL: more alcohol than anything else. So the grandpa, who owns the home, asked her to leave. And so these three girls -- now, they were upstairs, and they had an aunt that lived downstairs that kind of helped. She`s older. But she wasn`t, you know, allowed to stay there. And the girls -- I`ve heard the word "hate." They hate their mother.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wow.

WALL: So, you know...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: This is new information.

WALL: Yes, I know. We speculate all of this -- all of the things. Like, you know, did they bribe them -- or did she bribe them not to say anything? I don`t think so. These girls were so devastated when this happened and the shock. I don`t think so.

And I honestly -- I know the husband really well. And the only reason he had the rape charge was because of being with a girl. He was 18 and she was 17. And so, of course, it was dropped. He`s a great guy. And he actually...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wow.

WALL: ... was in prison for drug-related issues, selling, I believe, more than anything.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. Sandee, let me ask you this. He was -- it was meth-related that he went to jail for, meth-related, not meth itself. But some of the ingredients, the chemicals. Do you think she`s a meth addict? Because that would explain everything.

CALLER: You know, we don`t -- I don`t know what kind of drugs she took. From my knowledge, it was more -- more alcohol than anything else. Because she -- they would come home, and she was passed-out drunk. All the time.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, my gosh. Well, Kimberly Priest Johnson, criminal defense attorney out of Dallas, to me that says everything. I mean, when you`re an alcoholic, you`re capable of everything. And anything.

And additionally, if she thought these children might have had fetal alcohol syndrome because she was drinking during the pregnancy, that would also be a motive: well, let`s not take any chances; let`s just murder the kids.

KIMBERLY PRIEST JOHNSON, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Right. If she was even able to think at all. I mean, look, this information is not surprising to me at all, especially given what we know about her husband, that he was involved in methamphetamine in some way. She was likely involved in that in somehow. Usually, spouses of drug dealers are not completely innocent of the drug themselves.

And so this -- this explains everything, and I think it probably is a likely basis for what she`s done over the last ten years. It doesn`t surprise me to hear that her children hate her. It doesn`t surprise me to hear that she was aloof and hid her pregnancies, because this is a common thing for moms that actually kill their babies. They hide their pregnancies, and then they`ll kill in secret.

So it`s a tragic story. But this information is not surprising.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. But listen, one of the most confusing parts of this is that Megan Huntsman was the go-to babysitter for the neighborhood. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really nice. I mean, she made cookies for all the kids.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was always a good babysitter, because she baby-sat my grandchildren.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Baby-sat my 2-year-old, 7-year-old, 10-year-old daughter, my 3-year-old nephew. Really nice. Kids loved her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Dr. Judy Ho, clinical psychologist, we`re getting two different portraits here. We`re hearing about the nice lady next door who baby-sat and made cookies, and then we`re hearing about the passed-out drunk who was hated by her own children and who, you know, was cold and aloof.

HO: Right, Jane. And this actually does scream a personality disorder to me, because there`s these two sides.

And you know, to my earlier point about this possibly antisocial personality disorder, these individuals are charming. These individuals know how to get at somebody`s heart. They know how to get close to people, and that`s why we hear of so many antisocial personalities disorder people then committing murders.

But I want to point out another thing about the methamphetamine use, and that possibly she`s involved in it. There is such a thing called amphetamine psychosis. And when you use enough meth...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, look at those eyes.

HO: ... it can actually lead to hallucinations.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Look at those eyes.

HO: Look at how crazy she looks.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Those dilated pupils, that face. That says -- the picture tells a thousand words. And that face with those eyes and the dilated pupils, that`s the first thing I noticed.

On the other side, we`ve got a caller from Utah who wants to weigh in. What do you think? Why do you think she did it? Stay right there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We always thought she looked skinny. We never saw any evidence of pregnancies.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police believe Megan gave birth over a span of ten years, from `96 to 2006, and murdered each one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She lived there for about 15 years. And she was a good neighbor, as far as we knew. We just really loved her and her husband and family. And thought they were really good people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Update. Megan Huntsman let three of her children live, three daughters that are now in their teens and early adulthood. But cops say she killed half a dozen others right at birth, strangling them and choking them immediately, and a seventh was born stillborn.

Why on earth? And how did anybody not notice?

Let`s go out to the phone lines. And this is all happening, by the way, in Utah. So Karen, Utah, what do you have to say? Karen, Utah.

CALLER: Hi, Jane. The area where she lives is known as Happy Valley. It`s predominantly LDS or Mormon. And there is a high pressure to have a lot of children. I don`t know if this woman is Mormon. But the area, like I said, because of Brigham Young University and everything, is a very high- pressure area. And if you`re not LDS, they look down on...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK. We got your point, and Karen, thank you for your call.

Sandee Wall, you live right there. You`re the next-door neighbor of this woman. What do you have to say to that caller?

WALL: You know, I am LDS. But I honestly don`t feel the pressure. It`s up to the person. I personally...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Were they? Were they?

CALLER: You know, I think she was as a child but never practiced it, to my knowledge. She didn`t.

And when you talk about the cookies to the kids and the babysitting, that was quite a few years ago. The parts that I had seen her lately is way after she did babysit young children. Because I have been there 14 years, but those -- those kind of years were a long time ago.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Sandee, let me jump in one second.

WALL: Sure.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Because you`ve revealed some very, very fascinating stuff. Dr. Tiff, what do you make of everything we`re learning tonight from her alleged drinking, her kids hate her, the type of community it is?

DAVIS-HENRY: Well, when you look at neonaticide, and that is when you are -- when you have a parents that`s killing a newborn or not allowing them to live, generally that`s done by someone who isn`t psychotic. Statistically, moms who kill older children tend to be more of the psychotic ones. So you think about the case that we talked about a few weeks ago with the mom in the ocean -- taking the kids into the ocean or even Andrea Yates, they tend to be a little bit older. So you see more psychosis.

But with parents that are killing their babies when they are just newborn, they tend to be in denial. They tend to procrastinate on things like health care. Think about those teenagers that maybe throw the baby in the Dumpster.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes.

DAVIS-HENRY: Or deny -- deny that they were even pregnant and then hide the baby right after it`s born.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let me say this. We`ve learned a lot about this woman tonight, thanks to Sandee Wall, her next-door neighbor, who joined us exclusively. Thank you, Sandee, for being so candid and for talking about this. I know it must be difficult.

Crazy case. We`re going to stay on top of it.

Now another horrifying case. Did cops ignore the pleas of a 9-year- old boy who said he was being abused by his mother until it was too late? We have a new 911 call, an incredible call where that mother blames a toddler for 9-year-old Omaree`s death.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I never hated nobody like you in my life. You know what, Omaree? I hate you more than I hate anybody in my whole life. And I`ve been on this earth 41 years. And nobody has ever made me (EXPLETIVE DELETED) feel the way you do, Omaree, ever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You guys all right?

CYNTHIA VARELA CASAUS, MOTHER OF OMAREE VARELA: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There wasn`t any yelling or anything going on?

C. CASAUS: Not here.

STEVE CASAUS, STEPFATHER OF OMAREE VARELA: I could beat the life out of you. Shut up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You guys seem like good family -- decent family.

S. CASAUS: I`ve never hated nobody like you in my life -- ever.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Beat him with a phone and belt.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The officer never listened to the 911.

C. CASAUS: This doesn`t hurt. So don`t act like it hurts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight jaw-dropping developments in the gut- wrenching case of this innocent nine-year-old boy who called 911, desperately trying to save his own life before cops say he was ultimately kicked to death by his own mother. Tonight, we`ve got a shocking brand-new 911 call where Omaree Varela`s monster mother is caught on tape outright lying to the 911 operator. Cops say she beat and stomped this child to death, but on the phone call, she points the finger elsewhere.

This little boy was a hero, risking his own life repeatedly to warn cops and teachers that his mother was abusing him. October 2012, Omaree told his fourth grade teacher his mom hit him in the face with the house phone. Cops went to his school but nothing happened. Two months later, December 2012 a woman reported seeing Omaree beaten by his mother at a phone store. Again, nothing happened.

Then last summer, six months before little Omaree was killed, he secretly dials 911 so cops can hear the horrific abuse from his mom and stepdad in the background. Two cops respond to the 911 call but do nothing to help him. And tonight this child is dead.

In this newly released 911 call, Cynthia Varela Casaus, who is behind bars charged with child abuse resulting in death lies about who killed nine-year-old Omaree saying her other child, a toddler, is the murderer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

C. CASAUS: My son was playing on -- it`s a metal horse, like a rocking horse. My two-year-old pushed him off the horse. And it looked kind of like he was having a seizure or something so I was trying to do CPR and pushed on his chest and tried to get him --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What address are you at?

C. CASAUS: He`s really out of it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And he was pushed off the metal horse?

C. CASAUS: He was playing on it, and my little boy gets real aggressive and doesn`t like to share.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, well, she`s the one who gets real aggressive, actually. The cowardness (SIC) is unimaginable -- the cowardice. But it doesn`t end there. The mother lies again, claiming she tried to revive Omaree by pouring water on him. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

C. CASAUS: I thought Omaree`s leg had got stuck and he had enough time to catch himself, but he didn`t catch himself and I heard him hit his head. So I tried to push on his stomach, trying to get him, and my little boy got -- was getting really excited and saying, "Omaree, play. Omaree, play." And I tried to put cold water on him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Another lie. Responding officers said little Omaree`s clothes were dry, despite the mother`s claim she poured water on his body to try to revive him.

Straight out to the "Lions` Den" and investigator Jon Leiberman -- what does this 911 call tell you about this case?

JON LEIBERMAN, HLN CONTRIBUTOR: Well Jane, let me take you one step back. I don`t know if you know though this. But this little boy was born when his mother was in prison on drug trafficking charges.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Whoa.

LEIBERMAN: So that gives you a little bit of context. We dug that up today. That gives you a little bit of context that unfortunately, in this young boy`s life, he saw so much torment, so much abuse.

Nine times Children, Youth and Families visited with him. They documented abuse three times. There were three police visits to the home. And yet how many times was the district attorney`s office alerted to any of this? Zero. No paperwork was ever --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Unbelievable.

LEIBERMAN: -- filed with the D.A.`s office for potential charges. And that`s the horror here. And then of course the 911 calls.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Laziness, all the way around -- laziness by cops, CPS, everybody -- they failed this child, and now he`s dead. And not only does this disgusting mother lie to the 911 operator, she also blames the boy himself, little Omaree for falling and hitting his head saying he has behavioral problems and ADHD. Then she claims she has got a disability. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

C. CASAUS: My son was playing on a -- it`s a metal horse, like a rocking horse. I had just given him his medication. He`s on new medication. I`m disabled. He has ADHD and behavior problems. So he`s on --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is he responding?

C. CASAUS: No, he`s not responding.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh yes, you know, I love how she throws in "I`m disabled." We reached out Cynthia`s attorney to find out what exactly -- what disability does she have? We haven`t heard back. You know, we see her walking around. She is healthy enough to allegedly push and stomp her son to death.

Out to the "Lions` Den" -- Kimberly Priest Johnson, criminal defense attorney, a few years ago she arrested for prostitution. She`s got long rap sheet. She wasn`t too disabled to allegedly work as a prostitute. Is this woman playing the system and is Uncle Sam the enabler in chief here?

KIMBERLY PRIEST JOHNSON, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: She is trying to play the system. Her disability is that she`s a methamphetamine addict. You know, to say the system failed this child is an understatement when you have a child that is actually crying out for help over and over and over again.

What blows my mind is, between this woman and the stepdad, there were 19 offenses. And when a call is initially made, all law enforcement has to do is push a button and pull up criminal history. To me, I don`t understand why that`s not the first thing that`s done. And when you see these parents` rap sheets, why that child is not automatically removed from the home and then an investigation is done. There are so many failures, one after the other, it`s absolutely disgusting.

LEIBERMAN: They were both on parole.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This poor boy didn`t have a chance from the moment he was born, I mean let`s be honest. This is what is so sad and makes me so sick to my stomach is that the system failed him. Police officers failed him, CPS failed him and I think to some extent we as a society failed him. I mean these parents clearly have anger management issues. You think that they can`t control their temper outside in public?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: They`re criminals. They`re violent criminals.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Exactly. Are we expected to believe that no one saw this and no one did anything to help this poor boy? Just makes me sick -- it makes me absolutely sick to my stomach.

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Authorities were alerted over and over and over again that there was a problem in this house. Omaree, the child, risked his own life to call 911 secretly while his parents were screaming and threatening him. But when cops show up to the house, they compliment the parents -- got to hear this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You guys, you seem like good family -- decent family. Just be careful --

C. CASAUS: Ok.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- on what you guys say when you say stuff like that. You know, I`m going to --

S. CASAUS: We understand.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m going to overlook it right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You know, I hate to say it, but that is moronic, ok? Six months after that visit, the boy was dead.

Again, CPS called nine times. These cops didn`t listen to the 911 call, which is what the dispatcher said, "Listen to it before you go over there so you know what`s going on." They didn`t do that. They didn`t file a police report. They videotaped for 15 minutes but claimed they were there for two hours. Who knows what they were doing for the other hour and forty five minutes. They didn`t call CPS. I mean this -- they didn`t interview the child alone.

Honestly, I have got to say, you know, Judy Ho, clinical psychologist, this was an abdication of responsibility.

DR. JUDY HO, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: That`s right. It was such the perfect storm that the entire system failed him all at the same time.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I have to jump in. I have to jump. No perfect storm. It was a screw-up by human beings --

HO: Right.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: -- who thought that they were going to act all- important and say, you know, you look like a decent family. I`m going to overlook this, this time because I`m real important. I can decide to overlook it or not. No.

HO: Right.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: No, that is not your role, officers. Your role is to go over there --

HO: Exactly Jane.

(CROSSTALK)

JOHNSON: And Jane, you know --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Not play rabbi, not play pastor.

HO: Right.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Not play principal. You`re none of those things.

HO: Right.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You`re cops who should investigate.

HO: And Jane, you know, this entire situation here all arose because these parents are excellent liars and have somehow managed to deceive the many, many people that have in their lives and investigated this case.

They have this entire rap sheet. Their entire lives are based on lies and they`re very good at it. But that doesn`t take the responsibility off of the officials that are supposed to be protecting us. And for some reason, they listened to these parents` words and they said you know, what we trust you more than the reports we`re getting. We trust you more than the fact that there is 911 calls and it`s totally disgusting.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We need a law. If CPS comes to your house three times, that`s it. Three strikes and you`re out. The kid goes away to foster care. You want him back, you`ve got to go to go court. You`ve got to wear an ankle monitor. You`ve got to be on parole, which they were for other reasons. And you`ve got to do all sorts of classes and you`ve got to have cameras in your house to monitor, just like I have a camera in my house to monitor my elderly mom. I see her sitting on the chair so I can keep track of her.

That`s what needs to happen. Use technology to keep track of these criminal parents before they kill.

Up next, we`ve got some breaking news for you. Superstar, Miley Cyrus, has been rushed to the hospital. She is hospitalized right now. Stay right there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: This just in, Miley Cyrus has been hospitalized tonight. A rep for the singer says she had an allergic reaction to antibiotics and needed to cancel her concert in Kansas City. Just a little while ago Miley tweeted this picture from her hospital bed. The pop star is famous for her over-the-top antics on stage and in music videos like "Wrecking Ball".

(MUSIC)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: VH1`S "The Gossip Table" Rob Shuter, what do you make of it?

ROB SHUTER, VH1, "THE GOSSIP TABLE": That was big news, Jane, just breaking right now. So she just was admitted to the hospital. They are saying it`s an allergic reaction. A lot of people out there on Twitter and social media are already speculating what is going on here. Is this another one of those celebrity stories where they say they`re exhausted or have allergic reactions and some think a little deeper is happening?

I actually tend to believe her. I saw her just a couple weeks ago here in New York doing her show. It is a grueling, grueling show. She does a fantastic job. And the other thing, too, Miley has been on tour now for several months. You never hear of her in the different cities going out partying, going out drinking. I think when she is on the road doing the show, it`s her number one focus. So --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, but you see her being highly sexualized. All eyes have been on Miley since her unbelievable transformation from innocent girl next door, you know, her TV persona was Hannah Montana, what could be more G-rated, into this hyper-sexualized woman that we see in videos like "We Can`t Stop".

(MUSIC)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Dr. Tiff, do you think the pressure of having to be that sexualized, my God, I can`t even imagine, would send me into a breakdown. I`m not saying she is having one.

DR. TIFFANIE DAVIS HENRY, PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, Jane, you know, I don`t think this has anything to do with the allergic reaction. But certainly she has been under a lot of stress and a lot of pressure lately and had to cancel some shows last week because of this illness. So it doesn`t surprise me that, yes, she was on antibiotics. And you know what; that happens to normal people. They have reactions.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I thought she said that her dog was sick the last time.

DAVIS-HENRY: No, the dog died.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh.

DAVIS-HENRY: The dog died. But she actually cancelled her concert in Charlotte because of the flu.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, listen, it`s very stressful. I`ve watched documentaries behind the scenes of these young women.

DAVIS-HENRY: I couldn`t do it. I couldn`t -- I couldn`t take the pressure.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: The Katy Perry documentary -- unbelievable work that they go through and the emotionally draining nature of these concerts, people just flooding you and treating you like you`re a deity, it`s something.

Now, on the other side, we`ve got another troubled starlet. Is she still a starlet, though -- Lindsay Lohan? Did Lindsay Lohan relapse? New published reports claim the actress was slugging vodka at Coachella.

And we`re going to show you some pictures of that festival. It is notorious for music and a lot of other things. She has been out of rehab, you know, for seven months. But if these reports are true, this would be the second time we know of that Lindsay has allegedly slipped.

On the other side, we`re going to talk about that. What`s going on with La Lohan?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: What`s going on with Lindsay Lohan? The 27-year-old admitted she fell off the wagon on her reality show "Lindsay" on OWN. Check it out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LINDSAY LOHAN, ACTRESS: I wasn`t considering the fact that the person I was seeing does drink, and I had a glass of wine. And I was like I didn`t -- and that was it. But it was that I just had so much guilt. And it`s ok to admit it. It`s really scary. Like it took me a bit to like finally just be like, why am I holding this in? (EXPLETIVE DELETED) it. I screwed up. I screwed up, and that`s ok.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We don`t know exactly when she screwed up. But now she`s making the rounds at Coachella. So Rob Shuter VH1`s "The Gossip Table". Is that a good place for somebody who has a severe a substance abuse problem to go -- Coachella?

SHUTER: It`s a terrible place for people to go who drink and do drugs. It`s notorious for being a big party. There`s a lot of liquor served. It`s notorious for a lot of drug use. It`s one wild party. Think of it as sort of like a whole weekend of bands playing, of music. It really is a very dangerous place to go if you are tempted by these substances.

I think a lot of people in Lindsay`s camp were trying to convince her not to go, but nevertheless she did.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And listen, we`re not knocking Coachella, if you`re not an alcoholic or drug addict, go and have a good time and party. I know a lot of people who do. But Anna Davis, CEO, publisher, afterpartychat, here`s the thing, people who are sober -- and I`m 19 years sober -- we love to tell everybody exactly how long we`ve been sober. One thing we can`t get out of her is if you`re sober, how long have you been sober? That`s never -- we can`t squeeze it out of her. What does that say?

ANNA DAVIS, CEO, AFTERPARTYCHAT.COM: Jane, I agree. It`s sort of like the headlines should less be "Did Lindsay fall off the wagon" and more be "Was Lindsay ever on the wagon?" You know, this is not a girl who seems to be making any effort to be sober, and you know, you look at her Web site, and it`s like what should I wear to Coachella. I mean sobriety requires you making that a priority. Not the next live music festival.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. And these reports coming out Rob, the very day Lindsay`s mom Dina pleads guilty to drunken driving. I mean could you say the apple doesn`t fall far from the tree?

SHUTER: Yes. This is really, concerning. I mean I think we all know that the family has many issues here. I`ve known Dina for many years. I think she would admit to the problems that she has.

What`s really frightening now though is that new reports in two different publications that Lindsay was spotted at the festival drinking. They`ve not been confirmed by "The Gossip Table" but two (inaudible) are saying that she was indeed drinking vodka. This is really, really scary.

She was also there with her little sister and her brother, so if they were around her and allowed it to happen, it makes me really worried about this family.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We reached out to her. We haven`t heard back, we would love to obviously talk to her about this. Look. I don`t know what was in her glass. I`ve got tea in my cup. How does anybody know what it is? There`s no proof.

But you know what; you`re asking us to believe you over and over and over again, and yet your behavior would seem to point to the exact opposite. Lindsay, come on. Get real.

Nancy Grace is up next. Good night.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END