Grandma and mom abused 13-year-old to death — forcing her into feces-covered cage as ‘discipline,’ cops say Virginia Lujan, 55, and Jami Hodges, 33, both admitted that the girl was kept in the ‘cage’ to keep control of her, police said.
When detectives searched the home after obtaining a warrant, they found “what appeared to be a makeshift cage, which was full of feces and had a foul odor.” Both Lujan and Hodges admitted that the “girl was kept in this ‘cage’ to keep control of her,” police said.
“She said she did not seek medical attention because she believed the girl would be fine,” police said of the girl who had a “cognitive delay and had the mental capacity of a three-year-old.”.
Virginia Lujan, 55, was taken into custody and charged with one count of child abuse following the death of her granddaughter earlier this week, according to the Tempe Police Department.
Lujan, who was caring for the teen at the time of her death, told investigators that she had fallen down the stairs two days earlier, police said in a news release.
