Oklahoma mother Tina Ramirez used her right to remain silent when she was arrested by Piedmont police for child abuse, as captured on a body camera.
Her husband, Anthony Ibeziako, spoke a fair bit, however.
“This is not a normal family. This is some f—ing prison or some s—,” he told an investigator on March 19, citing the number of cameras at home.
“Yeah, that’s what I’m thinking. Thank you,” said the investigator, who spent the interrogation exasperated with Ibeziako.
On video, the husband said Ramirez was in charge of feeding the children. But police say that the children were malnourished. According to documents, the abuse landed on law enforcement radar when one of the kids ran away and was found hiding under a blanket behind a building.
“Upon uncovering herself, it was evidence that [she] was in an emaciated state.”
The investigator confronted Ibeziako with the children’s physical condition.
“They’re stealing food all the time, and they’re skin and bones,” said the investigator. “They’re hungry, Anthony.”
In the document, authorities said that the runaway “described being locked in a closet for extended periods without food, as punishment. She also reported being struck, tased, choked, and subjected to other forms of physical violence.”
Though Ramirez did invoke her rights on March 19, cops say she spoke to them on the 15th of that month.
“She admitted to employing physical force to discipline her children, acknowledged their emaciated appeared and admitted her failure to seek medical attention for their condition,” police wrote, describing her words from March 15. “Moreover, her explanation for locking away food items contradicts the assertion that the children were adequately nourished. Tina admitted to the use of a handheld taser in proximity to her children, and even admitted that she had tased [a child] in the eye once when she waved it too close to his face.”
The investigator voiced frustration with Ibeziako, telling him he should have taken them to a doctor or professional.
“They’re adopted,” the husband answered. “I’m not on their papers.”