Records: Henderson mom feared losing job before children’s deaths
Jovan Trevino, the Henderson woman accused of drowning her two young children, wrote that she faced “suspension or dismissal” as a Department of Family Services worker before the boy and girl were killed.
On a nightstand inside the master bedroom of Trevino’s home, police found a phone containing a note that partly explained her struggles, according to court documents made public this week.
The note started with the words “do not delete” and “I’m sorry, sorry, sorry.”
Trevino continued: “The last few months became a serious mess of my life, so bad that I was facing suspension or dismissal at work, meaning leaving everything or near because who’s to say when I would have been employed again.”
She eventually acknowledged to police that she had written the note, according to grand jury testimony.
At the time Gihanna Fox, 1, and Christopher Fox III, 4, were killed, Trevino worked full time as a family services assistant, helping families apply for assistance, monitoring visitations and helping with transportation, officials said.
As of Wednesday, she was no longer employed with the county, according to a spokesman.
Henderson police officer Karl Lippisch testified before the grand jury that Trevino detailed last month’s killings when she was questioned by investigators.
Police found the children’s bodies in their home in the 700 block of Calamus Palm Place, off Galleria Drive near Stufflebeam Avenue, according to the mother’s arrest warrant.
Trevino fled the state and voluntarily checked herself into a medical center in Bullhead City, Arizona, before her arrest.
She was indicted last week on two counts of murder and is due back in court Friday. She is being held without bail.
The children’s father, Christopher Fox, testified that Trevino expressed suicidal thoughts days before the killings.
“She couldn’t leave the kids here without her being there with them,” he said. “I took it seriously. I told her that I will report her, told her I needed to. … If we didn’t get through this I would check her into some type of facility, but she said she was fine after we talked.”
Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.
Warning signs
Signs of suicide can include changes in conversation, behavior and mood, according to the American Association of Suicidology.
If a person talks about being a burden to others and feeling trapped; if a person starts acting recklessly or withdrawing from friends, family and activities; if a person starts experiencing rage, anxiety or a loss of interest — reach out to the person or seek help.
For more information, visit suicidology.org/resources/warning-signs.
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 1-800-273-8255, provides access to trained telephone counselors, 24/7. The Crisis Text Line is a free, national service available 24/7. Text HOME to 741741.
