One Saturday in May, in Henderson, Texas, an 11-year-old boy picked up the phone and dialed 911. His voice trembled as he explained that his mother thought he was ‘the devil’ and was burning the family’s two dogs in front of the house.
When officers arrived, they found 32-year-old Veronica Loredo inside a vehicle with her four children, ages 1 to 11. She rolled down the window shouting that someone was trying to kill her. She was sweating, struggling to breathe and, according to the court document, eventually admitted that she had killed the pets in front of her own children before locking them in the car.
Police found the remains in a still-burning fire pit. Loredo now faces charges of animal cruelty and child endangerment, with bail set at $400,000. While Child Protective Services investigates the case, one question lingers: how much more would have happened if that boy had not called in time?