Albuquerque woman charged in death of her one-year-old daughter

Albuquerque police have charged Tabitha Leann Molina, 32, in the death of her one-year-old daughter after doctors found injuries investigators say were not consistent with Molina’s claim that the child fell from a couch. Detectives believe the girl had been hurt multiple times before she was taken to the hospital.

The child, identified by family as Anastasia, was first taken to Presbyterian Hospital and then transferred to the University of New Mexico Hospital, where she was placed in a medically induced coma. Police said the injuries included a skull fracture and multiple bruises. Anastasia was taken off life support at UNMH on May 29 and died that day. The Office of the Medical Investigator is still determining the official cause of death.

Albuquerque police charged Molina with intentional child abuse resulting in death of a child under 12 and with child abuse. The case has moved beyond a single tragic emergency room visit and into a child-abuse homicide investigation, with medical findings, family statements and law-enforcement accounts all pointing to a broader pattern of harm rather than an isolated accident.

The New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department said it received a report of alleged child abuse on May 22. The agency also said it had prior involvement with Molina’s other children between 2019 and 2021, including a February 2020 neglect allegation involving inadequate shelter that was substantiated. Other allegations in August 2019 and October and December 2021 were found unsubstantiated.

Family members said they did not know about CYFD reports involving Anastasia until after her death, and said they learned about the child only about two weeks before she died. That detail underscores a central question in this case: whether earlier intervention by caregivers, relatives, medical staff or state authorities could have changed the outcome before the injuries became fatal.

The broader backdrop in New Mexico is stark. In April, Attorney General Raúl Torrez called CYFD’s handling of child safety a “moral failure” and said 14 children died from abuse or neglect in 2024 and 2025. With no other children currently in the home, this case is likely to renew scrutiny of how Albuquerque, Bernalillo County and state agencies detect risk, respond to warning signs and protect children before abuse becomes irreversible.