Mom to be charged with murder of daughter
Jennifer Squires - Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted: 11/19/2008 01:33:17 AM PST
Click photo to enlargeVeva Virgil had recently moved into this coach at the Aptos Pines Mobile... (Shmuel Thaler/Sentinel)«1234»Related
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Dead girl found at Watsonville Motel 6WATSONVILLE -- The Aptos woman accused of killing her young daughter in a Watsonville motel room will be charged with murder today, according to the District Attorney's Office.
Veva Virgil, 37, faces a prison sentence of 25 years to life for allegedly suffocating her 3½-year-old daughter, Isabella Grace Martinez.
However, Virgil's husband, Richard Sullens, said he thinks she did not mean to kill Isabella. Virgil suffers from mental illness and was having a breakdown when the girl was suffocated, he said.
"I would stake my life on it," Sullens said. "She thought it was the end of the world and she wanted to save her child."
Sullens blames Virgil's actions on the multiple medications she was prescribed to control her schizophrenia.
"Everyone's getting it all wrong," Sullens said Wednesday. "She was the best wife, the best mom, the best Christian."
Prosecutor Ross Taylor declined to discuss specifics of the case, including if mental illness or drug use played a role in the killing, and Watsonville police Lt. Darren Thompson said Virgil showed no obvious signs of intoxication when she was arrested late Sunday.
"The investigation into Isabella's killing is ongoing, but the facts and circumstances support a charge of murder," Taylor said Tuesday, calling it "a tragic crime."
A housekeeper at Motel 6 on Silver Leaf Drive discovered Isabella's body on a motel room bed just after 2 p.m.
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Sunday. Virgil was apprehended by San Jose police later that day.
Virgil and the girl had been missing since Friday, when Sullens said she suddenly had a breakdown as they were moving new furniture into their Aptos mobile home.
"I didn't see this one coming," said Sullens, explaining that normally he could tell when Virgil's mental state was deteriorating and would intervene. "It happened so fast."
Sullens said he searched for Virgil and Isabella all weekend. At one point Saturday, he had found them and convinced Virgil to come home. She was driving in a vehicle behind his when she suddenly veered off and he couldn't find her again, Sullens said.
On Sunday, he called the Sheriff's Office to file a missing person report. About the same time, the housekeeper found Isabella's body.
Sullens said he considered the little girl, whose biological father died in 2006, his own daughter and he was in the process of formally adopting her.
"We had plans, college tuition and ballet," he said. "I loved this child."
Sullens and Virgil have been together for about two years. They had moved in with his 87-year-old mother at Aptos Pines mobile home park six months ago to help care for her, and the couple married Aug. 8 -- "for infinity," Sullens said. On Monday, he got a job offer he'd been waiting for.
"We had so much going for us," he said.
Virgil, who has three other children who didn't live with her, had lost custody of Isabella to the state in 2006, according to family friend Kelly Collier of Sunnyvale. Collier became a licensed foster parent through Child Protective Services and took in Isabella, who has the same father as one of Collier's children.
"I found that Virgil was suffering from mental illness and I tried to support her," Collier said Monday. "I really wanted to see Veva win. I really wanted to see Veva win for once."
Isabella lived with Collier's family for seven months while Virgil worked to meet the Child Protective Services requirements to regain custody of her daughter. Sullens said those standards included attending parenting classes and undergoing drug and psychological testing. He also said Child Protective Services workers were aware of Virgil's struggle with schizophrenia.
Virgil had been on several medications in the past. Some worked for a while, while others were never effective, Sullens said. One caused internal bleeding for three months, he said.
"They had her on every medication I've ever seen in my life," Sullens said. "And this is what happens, I lose my whole family?"
Sullens said he hopes Virgil can finally get the help and proper medication he believes she desperately needs.
"I still love Veva," he said. "Yes, she took our daughter, but I still love her. She wasn't in her right mind."
Virgil remains in County Jail on $750,000 bail.
Contact Jennifer Squires at 429-2449 or
jsquires@santacruzsentinel.com.
A mother killed her daughter in this case. This wasn't stranger on stranger violence that threatens my loved ones.
