Twin 7-month-old New Jersey twin girls who were found dead last month in their crib died of natural causes, according to Camden County officials.
Philly.com reported that a medical examiner ruled out foul play in the deaths of Jessenia and Juliana Rodriguez-Garnett, who were found unresponsive on the morning of March 22 by their mother. Their mother, Alexandria Garnett, called 911 from her Lindenwold apartment, telling a dispatcher that her babies had turned purple and were not breathing.
"Oh my God, my babies," Garnett screamed in the 911 call, obtained by Philly.com. "My twins, they're, like, purple. They're not breathing."
Garnett said she had already attempted CPR, but the dispatcher walked her through another unsuccessful attempt to revive the girls. The call for help lasted more than six minutes.
Garnett’s Facebook cover photo is one of Jessenia and Juliana with her other two children. She posted the photo to social media about a month before the girls died.
A Camden County prosecutor on Friday confirmed the medical examiner's findings, but did not offer further details of the babies' causes of death. A friend of the family told Philly.com that the twins were premature and that one of the girls needed heart surgery.
It was not clear if she had already had the surgery or if she was waiting for the medical procedure.
“I knew it was going to be natural causes, because nobody would hurt the kids,” Markia Conover said. “They were well taken care of.”
Conover previously told media that Garnett was a "wonderful" mother. The babies lived in the apartment with their mother, their grandmother and two of their four siblings, Philly.com reported.
The twins' obituary called them the "beloved daughters" of Garnett and Daniel Rodriguez. They were survived by their parents, siblings, grandparents and a host of aunts and uncles.
The girls were buried on Saturday.
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