Samantha Perez was fifteen years old when she was raped and became pregnant. Ashamed, traumatized, and scared, she delivered her baby at home in secret and planned to run away with her newborn. As she was getting ready to leave, she placed her newborn daughter on a windowsill for a few moments, who unfortunately fell off the window. The baby was unharmed.

In the chaos that followed, Samantha’s mother called 911 because she saw that her daughter was bleeding. When the paramedics arrived, they immediately called the Arizona Department of Child Safety and the police. Samantha was arrested for attempted murder and DCS took the baby into custody.  Olivia and Francisco Perez, Samantha’s parents and the baby’s grandparents, were not given an opportunity to care for the baby, now that they were aware of her existence.  As they have said, Samantha is a victim in this situation, but is being unjustly treated as someone who did harm.

The Arizona Department of Child Safety refuses to grant custody to Olivia and Francisco, stating that they were unfit to care for their granddaughter because they and Samantha are undocumented.

In the two years that Samantha has been incarcerated, no one in the family has seen or heard news about the baby. Samantha turns 18 tomorrow, already having served two years of her five year sentence in the adult women’s prison in Perryville, Arizona.

 The injustice and prejudice they continue to face is unacceptable.
Justice for the Perez Family!