New Jersey mother who murdered daughters by drugging them, commits suicide in Arizona prison

In a turn of events, Retta Cruse, 38-year-old New Jersey mother who had been sentenced to life for murdering her two young children, has been found dead in Arizona prison. The horrific story, which occurred in 2021, is now reaching its bleakest moment as Cruse had seemingly taken her own life.

The Crime

In 2021, fresh from a move to Arizona from Pleasantville, New Jersey, Cruse committed a heinous crime. She confessed to poisoning her two daughters to death: 9-year-old Aleyah McIntyre and 4-year-old Royal McIntyre. The facts surrounding the crime shocked both communities and reiterated the disastrous cost of domestic violence.

Legal Proceedings:

In 2022, Cruse entered two pleas of guilty to first-degree murder. The seriousness of her crimes demanded a severe punishment – two life sentences in an Arizona prison. The punishment was consistent with the criminal justice system’s perception of the gravity of child abuse, particularly by a parent.

The Suicide

More recently, Cruse was discovered dead in her prison cell. Although the details of her death are as yet officially unmade public, officials do affirm that she committed suicide. The news is further tragedy to already tragic circumstances and leaves one to wonder how much attention or assistance there is regarding mental illness within the criminal justice system, and truly what long-term psychological effect carrying out such vile crimes must have on criminals themselves.

The case has left deep scars on the New Jersey and Arizona communities. In the hometown of the family, Pleasantville, NJ, the news of the murders and Cruse’s subsequent suicide reopened the wounds. In Arizona, where the murders occurred, there has also been fresh debate about child protection and mental health services.

While this case is especially heinous, unfortunately it is not isolated. Child offenses, and particularly those offenses which are perpetrated by parents or guardians, are an epidemic across the entire United States. Agencies such as the FBI have active databases for missing children, including missing Native American children who are often underreported in the media.

The Broader Context:

The case puts into focus a variety of pressing issues:

• Mental Health: The tragic sequence of events places the need for strong mental health services in society and the justice system.
• Child Protection: It poses the question of how more effectively to protect vulnerable children, particularly where the threat is within the family.
• Criminal Justice: The case also questions the effectiveness of life sentences and the issue of access to mental health treatment for long-term prisoners.
• Media Coverage: The full coverage of the case is contrasted with the regularly under-covered missing and murdered marginalized persons’ cases, highlighting discrepancies in media reporting.

While it’s necessary to keep the victims in mind in such cases, it’s also necessary to keep in mind the impact on society at large. As one of the experts has been quoted in a similar case, “Killed, dismembered, her body burned, her body grilled — it was insulting for this 71-year-old woman.” This quote, though in another case, reflects the abhorrent conduct of domestic violence and its consequences on communities.

Briefly, the tragedy of Retta Cruse and her daughters is a reminder of the horrific outcomes of domestic violence. It is a call to us as a society to improve our mental health care systems, improve child protection policies, and review our criminal justice system on a continuous basis. As we consider this tragedy, we must work to build a society in which such tragedies are fewer and less frequent, and help is accessible to those who require it.