Cynthia Medina, Child Torturer – California, 1994

On September 7, 1994 Cynthia Medina, 32, of Orange, California, a former playground supervisor, become angry with her 9-year old nephew when, according to the accusation she made against him,  she found him playing with an ashtray full of marijuana cigarette butts.” So she punished him. Her method was to heat “two butter knives until they were red-hot and placed them on the boy's tongue.” But that was no all. She then beat the child with electric cords and a miniature wooden baseball bat. There was more. She took the bat she had battered him with and inserted it into his rectum. She did this twice. The boy was near death when police arrived to the crime scene. He had to have a colostomy bag surgically implanted to save his life.

The boy maintains that the accusation that prompted the torture was false.

Earlier incidents of abuse of Medina’s nephew were revealed by the investigation. Medina had previously “broken his teeth by dashing his face against a sink” and she had kicked him in the groin. Medina’s 9-year-old son suffered a broken finger from a beating by his mother.

After indictment she pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, but two psychiatrists offered expert opinion that she was indeed sane.

On May 15, 1995, Medina was convicted of three crimes: torture, which carries a mandatory life sentence, felony child abuse and misdemeanor assault.

[Robert St. Estephe]

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Orange County Superior Court, Santa Ana, Ca.

Sept. 7, 1994 – discovery of the crimes.

Sep. 15, 1994 – Medina turned herself in to authorities Thursday [Sep. 15] evening after the Orange County district attorney's office filed one count of torture and four counts of felony child abuse her in connection with a Sept. 7 incident.

May 15, 1995 – Medina convicted: torture, felony child abuse.
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[Susan Marquez Owen & Anna Cekola, “Woman Convicted of Torturing Nephew, Faces Life Sentence,” Los Angeles Times (Ca.), May 17, 1995]

[“Bail Set At $100,000 Torture Case,” The San Bernardino County Sun (Ca.), Sep. 17, 1994, Southland Sec.,  p. 3]

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For more cases, see: Women Who Like to Torture

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[1285-2/13/22]

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Ana Maria Cardona & Olivia Gonzalez-Mendoza, Child Torturers – 1990, Florida

The news media called it the “Baby Lollipops murder case.” On November 2, 1990, the body of a 3-year-old boy weighing only 18 pounds, covered in bruises and bedsores, with a severe head wound was discovered in a hedge in front of a Miami Beach mansion. The corpse had a shirt with a picture of lollipops on it. It took weeks for investigators to determine the identity of the victim. By the time it was discovered that the child was named Lazaro Figueroa the mother and her lesbian partner had fled Miami. The women and Cardona’s two living children were found in a motel St. Cloud and on December 6, they were arrested.

It was discovered that on October 31, tiny Lazaro’s mother (or her partner) had split Lazaro’s head open with a baseball bat, and when the child would not stop screaming, she beat him to death. Then Cardona and her partner Gonzalez-Mendoza dumped the body. Cardona “initially claimed, police said, that the boy had fallen and hit his head on a tile floor while jumping on a bed.” She also claimed it was her partner alone who had dumped the boy. Yet the fact was that Lazaro had not only been brutalized the day of his death but that he had for much of his exceedingly brief life been subjected to constant brutality. He was dangerously undernourished and had often been “tied to the bed, locked in a closet, or left in the bathtub with extremely cold or hot water.”

“Gonzalez eventually admitted to beating the toddler herself, insisting she was a lesser participant. Cardona argued, however, that Gonzalez had delivered the final, fatal blow with the baseball bat. Gonzalez eventually pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.”

Gonalez was offered a plea bargain in exchange for testimony against Cardona. She accepted a 40-year sentence in lieu of a probable death sentence. Cardona was convicted at Dade County Court of first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse and on April 1, 1992 was sentenced to death. Cardona has been successful in getting retrials. In 2010 a retrial began which resulted on June 10, 2011 in a death sentence once again. Once again she was awarded a retrial when on Feb. 18, 2016 the Florida Supreme court granted her plea.

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CHRONOLOGY

Nov. 26, 1961 – Ana Maria Cardona born.

1987 – Lazaro Figueroa born. “Lazaro had endured numerous tortures prior to his death, suffering brain damage due to untreated meningitis, anemia, malnutrition and spinal cord damage.”

Oct. 31, 1990 – murder of Lazaro Figueroa, 3; “Cardona split Lazaro’s head open with a baseball bat, and when the child would not stop screaming, she beat him to death.”

Nov. 2, 1990 – The body of a severely beaten unidentified child was found abandoned in the Miami Beach area [in a cherry hedge in front of a Miami Beach mansion] on Nov. 2, 1990. The child remained unidentified for several weeks, prompting the press to name the child "baby lollipops" because of the t-shirt the child was wearing when he was found.

Dec. 6, 1990 – Cardona and Gonzalez had fled and were arrested in St. Cloud, Osceola County.

1992? – Cardona's lesbian lover, Gonzalez, had testified against Cardona in return for a forty-year sentence for second degree murder.

Apr. 1, 1992 – sentenced to death. Dade County Court. found guilty of first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse.

2008 – “After 15 years, she was released from prison in 2008 for good behavior.”

May 11, 2010 – retrial begins.

Jun. 10, 2011 – sentenced to death.

Jun. 3, 2015 – oral arguments, appeal.

Feb. 18, 2016 – Florida Supreme court orders new trial.

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[“Florida Supreme Court Orders New Trial in 'Baby Lollipops' Murder Case,” NBC 6 South Florida, Feb. 18, 2016]

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“Lazaro was often tied to the bed, locked in a closet, or left in the bathtub with extremely cold or hot water.  When his body was found, it was covered in bruises and bedsores, and the child weighed only 18 pounds. On 10/31/90, Cardona split Lazaro’s head open with a baseball bat, and when the child would not stop screaming, she beat him to death.  Cardona and Gonzalez-Mendoza dumped the body in a Miami Beach neighborhood, fled to Orlando and were eventually apprehended in St. Cloud.” [Court record: CARDONA, Ana Maria (H/F); Eleventh Judicial Circuit, Dade County, Case #90-48092; DC #162180; DOB: 11/26/61; Sentencing Judge: The Honorable David L. Tobin; Date of Offense: 10/31/90; Date of Sentence: 04/01/92]

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For more cases, see: Women Who Like to Torture

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More cases: Lesbian Couples & Child Abuse

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[4178-12/4/21]

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Betsy Jones, Child Torturing Mom – South Carolina, 1883

FULL TEXT: In Abbeville county, on Monday, September 17, while the infant child of Betsy Jones was playing on the floor, the mother suddenly seized it by the heels and beat its head and body against the walls and furniture until it was dead, after which she throw it down and stamped upon it. She afterwards took the mangled corpse in her arms, caressed it and placed it in the cradle. She was arrested and adjudged insane, and was lodged in the State Lunatic Asylum in this city.

[“A Insane Mother.” Oct. 13, 1883, The National Police Gazette, New York, N. Y.), p. 10]

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For more cases, see: Women Who Like to Torture

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[1438-10/5/21]

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“Indianapolis Mother,” Child Torturer – Indiana, 1899

FULL TEXT: An unusual case of maternal cruelty developed in Indianapolis, Ind., recently, when the bicycle police were summoned by the neighbors to the home of a woman who was accused of torturing her seven-year-old daughter.

The police found the child in a chair with her hands tied behind her and the blood streaming from her nose, both eyes were black and one almost closed. Her wrists, around which a small rope was wound when her hands were tied, showed deep welts, and both hands were swollen to twice their natural size. It took the officers some time to untie the rope, as the flesh was so badly swollen that cutting it was impossible.

The officers found that the beating had been administered with the butt end of a buggy whip. The mother offered no explanation and was placed under arrest. After removal to the police station the child’s body was found covered with bruises, and she said her mother often gave her a beating. She also said that she was afraid to tell her father because of threats made by her mother, although she felt he would protect her if he knew the truth.

[“Tied to a Chair And Beaten,” The National Police Gazette (New York, N.Y.), Sep. 2, 1899, pp. 9 & 15]

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For more cases, see: Women Who Like to Torture

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Tomasa Lugo, Child Torturer – Mexico, 1902

Tomasa Lugo’s child-torturing came to light in 1902. A plus-sized seamstress living in Mexico City, was a child torturer with an original bent. She abused her 6-year-old niece, Maria Consuelo González, with beatings and even burned the child’s mouth with a burning coal. But the most extraordinary torture was one that stemmed from the torturer’s vocation. When teachers noticed little Maria was clearly ill and seems to suffer great pain from walking. But they assumed the condition was the result of some conventional malady. It was on the day Maria fainted, July 21, 1902, that the source of her suffering was discovered. Maria regained consciousness, yet every touch from the teacher who had helped her up and tried to comfort her made the child scream in agony. The reason was that her aunt had sewn her clothing onto her skin – at the waist, hips and thighs.

At night Lugo would remove the threading and allow the girl to sleep and in the morning perform her cruel sartorial ritual. When the girl complained she was beaten directly where her wounds were. Maria was rescued and treated at the hospital and eventually healed. The monstrous aunt, called in the press La Costurera Bejarano, was packed off to prison, where she had to be kept isolated from fellow prisoners who, given the chance, would have torn the sadistic child torturer limb from limb.

Robert St. Estephe (based on”Tomasa Lugo ‘La Costurera,’” Escrito con Sangre, Apr. 2010)

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Other sources :

Augustín Sánchez González, Un Dulce Sabor A Muerte : De La Bejarano a la Miss México un siglio de mujeres criminales, Editorial: Planeta, 2009

Augustín Sánchez González, Terribilísima : Historias de Crímenes y Horrores : en la Ciudad de México en el siglo XIX, Ediciones B México, 2006

James Alex Garza, El Lado Oscuro Del Porfiriato: Sexo, crímenes y vicios en la Ciudad de México, Aguilar, 2009

El libro rojo, Continuacion, V. I: 1868-1928, Gerardo Villadelángel Viñas, 2008

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Illustration: This image has been published online as an illustration to an article on Lugo, yet its source is not identified.

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For more cases, see: Women Who Like to Torture

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[978-10/4/21]

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Adelaide Lomax, Child Toturer, England, 1867

FULL TEXT: A short time since the Margate magistrates proceeded with the further hearing of the case in which Adelaide Lomax, of East Cliff Villa, was charged with revolting cruelty to her daughter Agnes, a girl of seven years of age. Witnesses were called, who deposed to seeing the child placed under a pump and pumped on in January, while in a state of nudity, fastened by cords in bed, suspended from hat pegs with a rope, &c.

Medical evidence was adduced by Mr. A. P. Owen, who said: I have examined the child, and have seen on its head a large old sore, and a variety of bruises on its back, elbows, a small scar on the chest, and three scars, apparently from burns, on the back of the left arm. There seemed to have some blood effused from the roots of the toe nails. There were likewise appearances of an indentation, as if some ligature had been placed round the right ankle. Its general constitution seemed to be very good, and its intellect was active enough. The child has been exposed to considerable violence of one sort or another.

The child was produced in court, and bore several scars on its right arm.

Mr. Towne addressed the bench for the defence, after which the jury was adjourned.

[“Beastly Cruelty of A Mother to her Young Child.” National Police Gazette (New York, N. Y.), Nov. 16, 1867, p. 5]

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[This case is related in – “The Lomax Affair” in: Bryan Kesselman, 'Paddington' Pollaky, Private Detective: The Mysterious Life and Times of the Real Sherlock Holmes, 2015, The History Press, Stroud, Gloucestershire]

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For more cases, see: Women Who Like to Torture

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Mrs. Isaac Hendricks, Child Torturer – 1885, New York

FULL TEXT: Isaac Hendricks and his wife live in New Brunswick, N. J. The pair have no children, and as far as can be ascertained, Hendricks is a hard-working blacksmith. The couple some time since adopted child from from the Union School, Philadelphia. For some time past the neighbors have heard sounds as it some one was being beaten. The matter was finally brought to the attention of Justice Lefferts, who in company with the chief of police and a reporter visited the house. In a small bedroom in the rear of the house, which was handsomely furnished, lying in bed, with her head swathed in bandages, was an eight-year-old girl. When the chief of police bent over the bed to ask the child questions, it was found that her right eye was blackened and badly swollen. The child’s clothes were removed, and her stomach and legs were found to be covered with bruises, all of them in various stages of discoloration. The head was also bruised and discolored. To the questions of the chief she said:

“I beat my head because I was tied.”

The child went on to say that on Monday night she was tied all night to the door-handle of the room. Altogether, she thought, from twelve to thirteen hours were passed in this manner.

The woman was then interrogated and admitted having beaten her, declaring that the child was vicious.

Dr. Van Marter, who was called in attendance upon the child, said: “This is one of the most inhuman cases of brutality I have ever seen. There is great danger of the child dying. The top of the child’s head is a literal palp, and she is covered with bruises from head to foot. The woman Hendricks admitted to me that she beat the child.”

The injured child was sent to the city hospital by Dr. Williamson, who says she is likely to die, as her head has been beaten in.

Dr. Rice, County Physician, made a further examination of the child at City Hospital and finds that an unmentionable outrage has been committed on her with a hot poker. The woman Hendricks has been committed to jail.

[“Horrible Inhumanity – An Eight-Year-Old Girl Almost Beaten to Death by Her Adopted Mother.” The National Police Gazette (New York, N. Y.), May 30, 1885, pp. 4 & 7]

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For more cases, see: Women Who Like to Torture

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[952-11/24/21]

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