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PD: Mom arrested after 3 kids found dead in Phoenix home

Posted at 7:18 PM, Jan 20, 2020
and last updated 2020-01-21 13:36:29-05

A mother has been arrested after three young children were found dead at a home in Phoenix Monday night.

Phoenix police were called to the home near 24th Street and Southern Avenue around 7:25 p.m. for an "unknown trouble" call.

Police say when officers arrived, they were met by the mother, father and another relative. When officers went inside the home, they found three kids unresponsive in a front living room area.

Officers performed CPR before fire crews arrived and pronounced the 3-year-old boy, 2-year-old girl, and 7-month-old girl dead.

Police say the mother, 22-year-old Rachel Henry, told officers the children had been sick before later admitting to killing them.

On Tuesday morning, police say Henry was arrested. She was booked into jail on three charges of first-degree murder.

Police say Henry recently moved to Arizona from Oklahoma.

It is too early to determine the cause of death and there were no obvious signs of trauma, Phoenix Police Sgt. Mercedes Fortune said.

"This is one of the most difficult calls that officers and fire respond to, ones dealing with young ones who have lost their lives," said Fortune.

Phoenix Fire spokesman Rob McDade said the firefighters who responded to the call were sent home early to be with their families after such a traumatic scene. Their shift was supposed to end Tuesday.

Stay with ABC15 for updates to this developing story.