Mother Who Fatally Drugged Her 2 Young Daughters Dies by Suicide in Arizona Prison

A woman convicted of killing her two young daughters in 2021 has died by suicide in prison.

According to an official statement from the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation & Reentry (ADCRR), 38-year-old Retta Cruse died on Feb. 21 “from an apparent act of self-harm by hanging.” 

The statement said that Cruse was found unresponsive in her housing unit at Perryville Prison and that prison staff “conducted life-saving measures until paramedics arrived.”

However, responding paramedics, in consultation with medical staff, pronounced Cruse dead on the scene.

The release further noted that Cruse was admitted to ADCRR custody in 2022 after she was sentenced out of Maricopa County for two counts of first-degree murder.

On Sept. 8, 2021, police responded to a report from a man who said that his two children were deceased in his home, per ABC 15 Arizona.

Upon entering the Phoenix apartment complex, authorities discovered 9-year-old Aleyah and 4-year-old Royal unresponsive in a bed. Cruse was found barricaded in a bedroom with self-inflicted knife wounds at the time, per the outlet. 

ABC 15 reported that investigators later determined that Cruse had given her children prescription drugs and over-the-counter medications in order to sedate and overdose them intentionally.

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Cruse was booked on two counts of first-degree murder on Sept. 14, 2021, after being released from the hospital for treatment for her wounds. She later pleaded guilty to the murders in 2022 and was sentenced that same year, per AZ Central.

Cruse, who was originally from New Jersey, had recently moved her family to Arizona for “spiritual reasons,” per a GoFundMe set up to cover the children’s burial costs, per NJ.com.

At the time, 12 News reported that Cruse had just lost a “bitter” custody battle over her elder daughter, Aleyah.

Court documents stated that Cruse confessed to the crimes and said she committed them specifically because of the custody case, per the outlet.