Chandler has seen a state of severe child abuse cases and child deaths in the last three weeks that have left the police department shaken.

Since Aug. 21 Chandler police have investigated two child deaths and two other child abuse cases in which a 5-month-old boy suffered a broken leg and ribs and a 3-week-old girl is near death.

The rash of abuse cases has taken a toll on the entire department, said Detective Frank Mendoza, a Chandler police spokesman.

“When you have the caregivers do these horrific things to kids, it is hard to fathom,” Mendoza said.

He said he can’t remember so many horrific cases in such a short span.

Murder charges have been filed against 23-year-old Dauntorian Sanders and his 26-year-old girlfriend, Susan Witbracht, in one of the deaths, which involves the mother’s 3-year-old girl, Schala Vera.

The other death case, which involves a 2-year-old boy, is still under investigation, Mendoza said.

According to court documents, the 2-year-old boy died on the same day that his mother gave birth to another child.

The mother had left the boy in the care of her 20-year-old boyfriend while she went to a doctor’s appointment and then the hospital. The...

A San Tan Valley woman has been charged with child abuse after deputies found her 14-month-old son so malnourished he couldn't hold up his head.

The mother, Rhandi Brown, 22, is free on bail after her Sept. 14 arrest.

According to Lt. Tamatha Villar, Pinal County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman, deputies discovered the baby when they responded on a domestic violence call to the home the woman shares with the child's father.

Brown allegedly stabbed the child's father Dec. 18, and she is charged with aggravated assault in that case.

Villar said the boy weighed only 13 pounds. Deputies at the scene described his arms and legs as "stick skinny," and he couldn't hold up his head.

His diaper was so soiled that the smell of urine was overwhelming.

Villar said there was a bottle with curdled milk in the crib with the child, and it appeared that he drank from the bottle and vomited onto his mattress several times.

"Neither parent thought there was a problem," Villar said.

The parents told investigators they fed the boy stage-three baby food - food for toddlers - and ravioli, despite his being toothless, Villar said.

They said the boy would gum the food...