Mother Arrested After Her 12-Year-Old Son Gets Killed By Alligator

This is completely tragic and could’ve been avoidable.

A 12-year-old boy was killed by an alligator near his home in New Orleans.

The boy was previously reported missing on August 14, but investigators later found his dead body in a lagoon and concluded that an alligator had attacked him.

His mother has since been charged with negligence.

The mother of a 12-year-old boy who was killed in an alligator attack near his home in New Orleans last month has been charged with negligent homicide in connection with his death, police said. https://t.co/bVaWM2zVxR

— ABC News (@ABC) September 8, 2025

ABC News reported more details on the mother’s arrest:

The mother of a 12-year-old boy who was killed in an alligator attack near his home in New Orleans last month has been charged with negligent homicide in connection with his death, police said.

Bryan Vasquez was reported missing on Aug. 14. His body was found in a lagoon near his home nearly two weeks later, authorities said. The Orleans Parish Coroner’s Office determined his cause of death was blunt trauma consistent with an alligator attack and drowning.

His mother, Hilda Vasquez, was taken into custody on Sunday and has been charged with negligent homicide and second-degree cruelty to juveniles, police said.

Parents arrested for keeping 5 children in ‘dungeon’ with ‘deplorable living conditions,’ DA says
Police alleged there had been a “pattern” of negligence by the mother and that Bryan had previously been a victim of “trauma.”

“There has been a pattern of both negligence and abuse over Bryan’s 12 years,” Deputy Superintendent Nicholas Gernon said during a press briefing on Sunday. “We believe that we can prove that that pattern of negligence and abuse led to … undue pain and suffering on his part.”

Authorities say they can confirm a recorded pattern of abuse from Hilda Vasquez, Bryan’s mother. She was arrested yesterday after her son died from an Alligator attack.https://t.co/YAxsJZyPmt pic.twitter.com/hKXwH55a6V

— WWL-TV (@WWLTV) September 8, 2025

WECT reported on the case more in-depth and shared details of the mother’s actions of negligence:

Detectives have spoken with Vasquez after the 12-year-old’s body was found on Aug. 26, and said that her statements had been conflicting.

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Vasquez allegedly told police she gave Bryan a sleep aid medication at 8 p.m. Aug. 13. She said around 3 a.m., she woke up to care for her newborn and found Bryan in the kitchen searching for food.

Vasquez allegedly told investigators it was common for Bryan to wake in the middle of the night and that she guided him back to his sister’s room to bed.

She said later that morning, she prepared her six-year-old son for school, which was about five blocks away. Vasquez said she hadn’t updated Bryan’s school with her new address, and therefore neither his sister nor he had bus transportation.

Detectives said she decided to let them stay home, bringing her younger son to school with her newborn, leaving Bryan and his sister alone at home.

Vasquez allegedly didn’t check on Bryan before leaving, assuming he was still asleep. According to court records, Vasquez told investigators she went straight to her bedroom after bringing her younger child to school, without checking on Bryan.

It was only around 10 a.m. that Vasquez called for her daughter and the little girl told her Bryan had gone missing. That is when they allegedly discovered the open window in the bedroom the children shared, prompting the days-long search for the 12-year-old boy.

Investigators say Vasquez soon disclosed two separate times Bryan had run away just days before he’d gone missing Aug. 14.

Vasquez told police that at her previous house, he had been found by police completely naked and drinking water from a drainage ditch on Aug. 1.

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