Decades after the deaths of three infants, police have charged a Wisconsin woman with murder.
The three victims were originally believed to have died between 1980 and 1985 from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), WITI reports. They were identified as Justin Brunka, born March 1980; Brad Steege, born September 1983; and Katie Kozeniecki, born December 1983.
Nancy Moronez, 60, of Oshkosh now faces three counts of second-degree murder in their deaths.
In March 2015, Moronez’s daughter reportedly contacted Waukesha Police Department to tell them of her mother’s actions. According to the daughter, Moronez “admitted to her that she had killed her son” via suffocation with a garbage bag.
Moronez's son, Brunka, was less than a month old when he died in Franklin. The other two, Steege and Kozeniecki, died in Milwaukee. They were 6 months old and 2 months old, respectively.
In an interview with investigators, Moronez admitted to holding Brunka underwater in a bathtub, WITI reported. Authorities said she admitted to smothering Steege while babysitting him after becoming "frustrated" and killing Kozeniecki in the same way. Detectives said Moronez said shouldn't couldn't "take kids that constantly cry."
According to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Moronez reportedly told a firefighter who responded to at least two of the deaths, "I told my husband I didn't want to babysit anymore."
According to investigators, Moronez said "that when her daughter was born she made a promise to God that should would not do anything to her daughter to hurt her if she was crying." Later in the interview, the defendant reportedly said, "I made a promise, but I broke it." She reportedly knew her own wrongdoing and said "that she is sorry."
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