For months, Yesenia Sesmas had pretended to be pregnant, police said.
The 34-year-old woman lived in Dallas with her family. But on Thursday afternoon, she was more than 350 miles away in Wichita, Kansas, where police said she fatally shot a mother then kidnapped the woman’s newborn daughter.
When the infant’s father returned home from work, he discovered his girlfriend, Laura Abarca-Nogueda, dead. Their daughter, Sofia Gonzales – a baby girl born six days before with round cheeks and a full head of black hair – was nowhere to be found, according to a statement from police.
Sesmas, police said, had fled with the infant, heading south to Texas.
After a days-long search involving federal agents and local authorities in two states, Sofia was found early Saturday at a home in Dallas. Sesmas was arrested on an outstanding felony warrant and booked on charges of first-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping.
On Monday, authorities presented the case to the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office in Kansas. Sesmas is in custody in Dallas; Wichita police are pursuing charges and trying to have her extradited to Kansas.
Wichita police spokesman Charley Davidson told The Washington Post that Sesmas knew her 27-year-old victim, although he did not say how. He said that although Sesmas lives in Dallas, she had spent time in Wichita before relocating to Texas several months ago. Davidson did not speculate why Sesmas returned to Wichita and allegedly ended a woman’s life before taking her newborn.
After being found in Dallas, the infant was taken to a hospital for evaluation, police said, and was taken home Saturday evening. The investigation is ongoing, authorities said.
“We can’t forget that this is the best possible outcome to a very sad case,” Wichita Police Chief Gordon Ramsay told ABC affiliate KAKE. “The death of Laura Abarca will be on all of our hearts in the next coming days. We want to do everything we can to bring this to justice.”
On Monday, Sesmas told CBS affiliate KWCH from jail that she shot Abarca-Nogueda but never meant to kill her. She just wanted the woman’s child, she said.
“I only wanted to threaten her in case she wouldn’t give [Sofia] to me,” Sesmas told the station, “but the gun went off.”
Wichita police responded to a call at about 3:30 p.m. Thursday to Abarca-Nogueda’s home, where they found the mother’s body. She was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
Authorities began searching for her newborn, whose name has been spelled by police both as Sophia and Sofia, fanning out across nearby neighborhoods.
“Our main concern right now is to locate and safely return 7-day-old Sofia Gonzales to her family,” Wichita police said Friday. “Sofia is missing and believed to be endangered and as with any newborn, an infant needs medical care and attention. The FBI is assisting with the investigation and a response team specializing in child abductions has been brought in to assist the Wichita Police Department in the investigation.”
By Friday evening, authorities had identified Sesmas as a suspect, according to police. Authorities obtained a search warrant, and in the early hours Saturday morning, Dallas SWAT officers swarmed a residence. Inside, police said, they found Sesmas, who was living with her boyfriend, her son and her niece. They also found baby Sofia.
Authorities said they do not believe the others in the home knew about Sesmas’s plan or played any part in it.
After the arrest, investigators from Wichita flew down to Dallas to conduct the interviews. “Detectives learned that Yesenia had faked a pregnancy over the past several months and then had traveled to Wichita, Kan., where she committed the murder and the kidnapping of Sofia and then returned to Dallas, Tex., with Sofia,” Wichita Police Lt. Todd Ojile, head of the homicide unit, said at a news conference.
Sesmas has been accused of somewhat similar crimes in the past. Davidson, the Wichita police spokesman, said Sesmas was arrested in July on suspicion of aggravated battery and aggravated kidnapping. A 37-year-old woman told police that Sesmas had battered her and her daughter, then kidnapped the woman, her daughter and another child. The children were ages 10 and 2, Davidson said.
Sesmas was released from police custody, and a warrant was later issued for her arrest, Davidson said. She was arrested Saturday in Dallas on that outstanding warrant.
After baby Sofia was reunited with her family, her uncle said, relatives were relieved but grieving a young mother’s death. “Laura was a loving mother, she was an amazing person,” Jose Abarca told KWCH. “I know she was only a mother for six days, but pretty sure those were the best moments for her.”
A GoFundMe page set up to help the family with funeral expenses has raised more than $13,000.
“Laura Orquidea Abarca Nogueda was a vibrant, beautiful woman, [whose] life got taken from us far to soon,” the message on the page reads. “Laura meant so much to us and we are devastated by the events surrounded by her death and the disappearance of her [daughter] Sophia. We appreciate all the prayers and will be grateful for any amount you are able to donate. Thank you and remember to keep praying for a safe return for baby Sophia while we set her mother to rest.”
Featured Image: Associated Press
(c) 2016, The Washington Post ยท Lindsey Bever
