One year later: Ty Toribio murder

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - For one week no one knew his name.  Some called him the angel of Alvarado Park.

"You just couldn't fathom how could someone do that," said Albuquerque Police Chief Department Ray Schultz.

Investigators alleged that after spending the night Alvarado Park, Tiffany Toribio murdered her son and then buried him where children had been playing.

Two days later, a mother and her kids found his body.

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

Police said Toribio took Tyrus Toribio, 3, to the park after friends kicked her out the day before because they felt she treated Ty poorly.

Investigators said Toribio suffocated Ty, revived him and then suffocated him again. Police said she used her hands to dig his grave in the park's sand.

A week later police arrested his mother.

"She said she didn't want her son to grow up without any love the same way she did," Schultz said during a news conference the morning after Toribio's arrest

"I remember doing that press conference," Schultz told KRQE News 13.  He said Ty's murder affected the detectives on the case and the community.

"Seeing the tears in their (investigators) eyes, it was a hard case," said Schultz. "We saw a pretty strong uptick when it comes to crimes being reported involving children."

At Alvarado Park there are no longer any signs of Ty's murder, but his death is not easily forgotten.

His mother sits behind bars awaiting her October trial.  She faces life in prison.

"It doesn't seem like it's been year already," said Schultz. "This is a case where's there's probably there's no winners; I mean it's just a horrible case."

Toribio did not answer KRQE News 13's request for an interview.

The police chief also said they're still trying to track down where all the donations for Ty Toribio's funeral went.

Last fall police searched the apartment where Veronica, Rachel and Monique Lesperance lived.

The women led a memorial fund drive in Ty Toribio's name.

Police said nearly $5,000 in donations is unaccounted for.

The chief said they're still looking into it.