Vanessa Chavez (Metropolitan Detention Center).
Authorities in New Mexico arrested a 40-year-old woman after she allegedly slammed her toddler daughter”s head against the wall after her feelings were “hurt” because the girl was “so fussy.”
Vanessa Chavez stands accused of intentional child abuse resulting in death, according to jail records. The incident occurred Aug. 2 at a home in northeast Albuquerque, police said. Paramedics arrived at the home to find a man performing CPR. They took over but were not able to revive the girl and they pronounced her dead, according to a complaint obtained by the Santa Fe New Mexican.
The key witness? The girl’s 7-year-old brother who saw the whole thing go down. After seeing the horrific incident, Chavez reportedly told the boy to keep his mouth shut about the death of his sister, identified in the complaint as EM.
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“He can’t tell what happened to his sister,” cops reportedly wrote. “Nothing will happen if he tells. He can’t say it. She isn’t coming back anymore. EM just fainted. Mom didn’t kill her.”
But then the boy began to open up and revealed the alleged truth: Chavez was “bad to his sister” and was she was “beating her up,” the boy, identified in the affidavit as AM, reportedly stated.
“She slammed her on the wall. Then she died. AM hopes she will come alive,” detectives said.
Chavez lost custody of her daughter after birth because the girl allegedly had drugs in her system. After spending most of her life with a family member, Chavez allegedly took custody of the girl.
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The girl’s father told investigators that Chavez became jealous because his daughter seemed to prefer his attention over hers.
“It was hurting Vanessa’s feelings, and she had cried because she did not understand why EM was so fussy with her,” detectives reportedly wrote in the complaint.
The victim allegedly had bruising all over the right side of her head along with other injuries to her left arm, right cheek, ankle and foot. Chavez claimed the toddler suffered the injuries while falling as she learned to walk, according to police. But the autopsy determined she died of a “large subdural hemorrhage,” the complaint said.
The Children, Youth and Families Department had custody of two of the couple’s three children for about a year, according to the New Mexican. But the kids were returned to the family in late July after the couple completed their court-ordered reunification plan.
The agency released the following statement to local NBC affiliate KOB.
Two of the three children of Greg Montoya and Vanessa Chavez were previously in CYFD custody. On June 18, 2025, during a court hearing, the parents’ attorneys moved to dismiss the abuse and neglect case citing the parents’ compliance with their court-ordered reunification plan.
All parties at the hearing—including the Guardian ad litem, CYFD representatives, parents’ attorneys, OFRA social workers, and the presiding judge—raised no objections to the dismissal motion. The Dismissal Order was subsequently signed by the judge on July 21, 2025.
The death of this child is a tragedy of immeasurable proportions. This outcome could not have been predicted by any of the parties involved in this case.
Chavez remains in the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center without bond.
