Wisconsin Woman Charged With Suffocating Three Babies in the 1980s

A Wisconsin woman is facing three counts of murder after she allegedly suffocated three babies, including her own son, in the 1980s.

Nancy Moronez, 60, was arrested by Milwaukee police this week and faces three counts of second-degree murder in relation to the deaths of three babies in 1980, 1984, and 1985 while she was their babysitter, CBS News reports. Moronez allegedly confessed to the murders and said that she “can’t take kids that constantly cry.”

Investigations into the three deaths, which were originally believed to be from sudden infant death syndrome, were reopened in 2015 after Moronez’s daughter told police that her mother had confessed to suffocating Moronez’s son with a garbage bag in 1980. When questioned by police, Moronez did not dispute the claims, but stated that she had actually killed her son by drowning him. She reportedly told authorities that she “put him in the water and saw bubbles coming out of his nose and mouth” and that she “held him down and felt him wriggle a little under the water,” when he was just 18 days old.

Moronez also allegedly confessed to the 1984 murder of six-month-old boy that she was babysitting, whose death was originally attributed to SIDS. She had originally told authorities that she had discovered the infant unresponsive less than an hour after she put him sleep, but according to reports, the 60-year-old told police this week that she used a blanket and held it “real tight against the face” of the infant.

A year later, Moronez was babysitting an 11-month-old girl who died while in her care. While the medical examiner attributed the infant’s death to SIDS, Moronez told police she used a blanket and that the baby “kind of moved around her hands” as she suffocated.

Moronez said that she didn’t use a blanket when she murdered her son because she wanted him “to go sooner.” She also allegedly told police that when her daughter was born, she made a promise to God that she would not harm her daughter if she was crying. Later in the interview it is reported that she said “I made a promise, but I broke it.”

Moronez remains in police custody without bond.