DARRINGTON — Authorities arrested a Darrington woman for investigation of stabbing her daughter on Valentine’s Day and burying her in a neighbor’s yard days later.
In a police interview, Alyssa Sanchez, 30, reported she and her daughter, 5, were in her Toyota Camry when she stabbed the girl repeatedly in the abdomen, according to a police report filed in Everett District Court. She did not give a specific number of times she stabbed her daughter.
Sanchez told Snohomish County sheriff’s deputies she had been hearing voices, according to a police report filed in Everett District Court. The voices told her she is the Devil.
After the stabbing, Sanchez sat with her daughter in the backseat of the car, parked outside their apartment in the 600 block of Commercial Avenue, according to police. She eventually covered the girl with a blanket.
The suspect left the car and went into their apartment, she reportedly told police.
She reportedly left her daughter in the car for days.
A few days after the stabbing, Sanchez asked a friend to buy a shovel, according to police. She also reported throwing away the knife she used.
Days later, the woman buried the body in a hole a couple feet deep because she was afraid the girl would start to smell, according to the police report.
On Monday, the suspect called 911 to report the stabbing. Police allege she agreed to a recorded interview with investigators in which she acknowledged killing her daughter.
On Tuesday, deputies arrested Sanchez for investigation of domestic violence murder in the first degree.
On Wednesday, police recovered the child’s body. Deputies reported finding a “significant amount” of blood in the Camry, according to the police report. The ground where Sanchez reportedly buried the body “looked recently disturbed,” deputies wrote.
The child had not been publicly identified as of Wednesday. The Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office had not yet determined the cause and manner of death.
Sanchez made her first appearance in court Wednesday afternoon. At the hearing, deputy prosecutor Jarett Goodkin asked Everett District Court Judge Tam Bui to set bail at $5 million. The defendant’s lawyer did not argue the bail request.
Bui found probable cause for the murder charge and set bail as requested. On Wednesday, the suspect remained in the Snohomish County Jail. The judge also ruled a mental health professional at the jail should conduct an assessment of the suspect.
Sanchez said nothing at the hearing, other than confirming her name.
Jake Goldstein-Street: 425-339-3439; jake.goldstein-street@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @GoldsteinStreet.
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