Toribio sought arrest before boy killed

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - In the hours before she is believed to have killed and buried her son Tiffany Toribio tried and failed to get herself arrested on an outstanding traffic warrant, Albuquerque police have confirmed.

The stunning revelation came during a hearing Wednesday where Toribio pleaded no-contest to the traffic charge of failing to pay fines.

"Our information is that on Tuesday May 12 Ms. Toribio attempted to turn herself in at the Coronado Mall substation for this warrant for failure to pay fines, and the officers declined to arrest her at that time, public defender Lee Hood, Toribio's attorney, in court.

Toribio, who was on the street after being tossed out of a friend's apartment, was trying to do the right thing, she added.

Albuquerque Police Department spokesman John Walsh confirmed Toribio tried to surrender herself but was not arrested because traffic warrants are not entered in the national crime database APD checked that night. Instead Toribio and her son were told about social services available to them, which they refused, and the pair then left the substation, Walsh said.

Some time around midnight that night Toribio smothered her son and buried him in the soft sand of a playground at Alvarado Park, according to a criminal complaint accusing her of first-degree murder and other crimes.

Two days later a woman out with her family in Alvarado Park discovered a shoe in the sand and realized it was attached to a body. Also on Wednesday police released her horrified call to 911.

"I'm in a park called Alvarado Park in Albuquerque," she told the 911 dispatcher. "I was digging under the playground, and I can't bring myself to unearth the whole thing, but I think I just found a body buried under the playground equipment."

The caller went on to say her kids were with her and she didn't want them to see what was happening.

KRQE News 13 has agreed not to release that caller's name.

Many unanswered questions remain about Toribio's actions and APD's response, and News 13 will have more on this developing story in upcoming newscasts.