Foster mother charged in Gresham toddler's death

Associated Press

Gresham police arrested a foster mother accused of killing a 2-year-old girl through a pattern of child abuse.

Dunia Soledad-Moreno, 29, is scheduled to be arraigned Monday in the death of Keyana Bravo-Hamilton. The toddler was dead on arrival when Soledad-Moreno and her husband, 38-year-old Armando Moreno-Garcia, drove her to Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center for treatment on Labor Day, said Sgt. Teddi Anderson, a Gresham Police Deparment spokeswoman.

Gresham police arrested Soledad-Moreno on Saturday. Anderson said a murder by abuse charge applies when a child younger than 14 dies through a pattern of assault. An autopsy last week showed Keyana died of internal injuries.

Alberto Gomez, who lives next door to Soledad-Moreno, told The Oregonian that the girl was shaking when he lifted her on Sept. 2 — two days before she was driven to the hospital. She had a purple ring around her mouth, and her body felt bloated, Gomez said.

Keyana was one of four children living in Soledad-Moreno's home. Soledad-Moreno also had Keyana's 3-year-old sister, Jasmine, and two children of her own, ages 2 and 6, said a neighbor and Amanda Hamilton, the foster children's aunt.

Keyana and Jasmine had been in foster care with another family for about a year. The sisters had been living with Soledad-Moreno for four months, Hamilton said.

Soledad-Moreno and her husband moved from California and planned to adopt the sisters. The husband, Armando Moreno-Garcia, is Jasmine's uncle, Hamilton said. The family hoped the adoption would allow them to see the girls more often.

Hamilton said the girls' mother, Crystal, was "very distraught."

Crystal, her sister said, had struggled with a meth addiction. "Even though Crystal had a problem, she loved her children," Hamilton said. "I want that to be known."