A woman in Arizona has been arrested and accused of murdering her daughter after the body was discovered inside a dumpster on Christmas Eve.
Sophia Simmons, 38, is facing multiple charges, including first-degree murder, child abuse and tampering with physical evidence.
Phoenix police were called to the area around 8 p.m. on December 24th, after a man looking for firewood inside a dumpster, found the body of a small child between the ages of five and seven stuffed inside a plastic storage tote.
The child had multiple injuries on her legs, arms and torso.
“Some of the injuries appeared to be open wounds and others were in multiple stages of healing and there were scars from previous injuries on her limbs and torso,” Phoenix authorities stated.
The following day, authorities received a call from an anonymous person in New York that alleged they had received a call from Simmons. The person told police that Simmons had beaten her child and it had gone too far.
The person also told police, “She told me that after beating her daughter, she left home and when she came back the girl wasn’t breathing. She then tried to give her CPR, but she couldn’t revive her. Sophia then stayed with her daughter’s body for five days before taking her and dumping her in the dumpster. Please do something about this.”
Phoenix officers surveilled Simmons’ townhouse and it appeared that someone was attempting to clean the home up.
Police immediately served a search warrant and discovered the home had appeared to have been emptied of it contents. The couches were moved to the patio and the cushions were all missing.
Simmons was later detained in Tonopah, Arizona. She is being held on a $1 million bond.
A court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 2. It’s unclear if she has retained an attorney.
Records show Simmons has a prior conviction in Minnesota for malicious punishment of a child in 2013.
The investigation is still underway as detectives wait for results from the Maricopa County Medical Examiner.
