Girl’s body found in dumpster on Christmas Eve, Arizona cops say. Mom arrested

A 38-year-old Arizona mom was arrested after being accused of beating her daughter to death before dumping her body in a dumpster.

On Dec. 24, Phoenix police officers were called after a man looking for firewood in a dumpster came across a plastic storage tote, according to a probable cause statement obtained by McClatchy News.

The bag was partially open and the man saw a child between the ages of 5 and 7 stuffed inside with injuries to her legs, arms and torso, police said.

Then, on Dec. 25, a woman in New York was on the phone with the child’s mother, later identified as Sophia Dominique Simmons, when Simmons told her she had “beaten her child and it went too far,” according to police.

McClatchy News reached out to the Office of the Maricopa County Public Defender, which said Simmons has not been assigned an attorney as of Dec. 27.

She then told her friend she had left the child at her home, officials said, and when she came back the little girl wasn’t breathing.

After being unsuccessful with CPR, Simmons stayed with her daughter for five days before putting her body in the dumpster, officials said.

The medical examiner’s office will perform an autopsy to confirm the child’s cause of death, officials told CBS 5.

Phoenix officers reported watching Simmons’ townhouse and seeing someone attempting to clean up. When officers performed a search warrant, police said, no one was home and they saw the house had been emptied.

Simmons was arrested and booked into Maricopa County Jail on a murder charge, tampering with evidence, concealing dead body parts and child abuse, officials said.

This story was originally published December 27, 2023 at 11:20 AM with the headline "Girl’s body found in dumpster on Christmas Eve, Arizona cops say. Mom arrested."