Stepmother denied bail in suspected child abuse death of 4-year-old

Nov. 30--STOCKTON -- Malinda Beach wept outside the courtroom after the arraignment of the woman accused of killing her daughter.

"I can't do this ... I can't do this," the grieving mother repeated as family members tried to console her.

On Thursday, Zulma Chavez made her first court appearance since being arrested on suspicion of the murder of 4-year-old Serenity. Chavez was appointed a public defender and had been ordered to return for further arraignment on Dec. 13, but her apperance was advanced to today for appointment of new counsel.

Superior Court Judge Edward Lacy on Thursday denied Chavez's request for bail. She is to stay at San Joaquin County Jail.

"She has the nerve to ask for bail," a distraught Beach told reporters outside the courtroom. "She deserves nothing. She deserves to be six feet under like my daughter. ... She needs to go to Hell."

The San Joaquin County District Attorney's Office is charging 21-year-old Chavez, who is Serenity's stepmother, with murder, child abuse resulting in death, as well as three counts of child endangerment that occurred on or about Nov. 24, 2017, and involved Serenity and her two brothers, according to the complaint.

Stockton police began looking into Chavez on Sunday after being alerted by a hospital about a case of suspected child abuse, according to the department. Officers learned Serenity had been taken to a local hospital suffering from severe injuries but had to be rushed to University of California, Davis Medical Center in Sacramento.

Serenity died on Tuesday.

Detectives took over the investigation and learned the incident happened at the family's home in the 8600 block of Rice Court in northeast Stockton, according to Stockton police. Two boys, ages 4 and 5, who were found at the residence were taken into custody by San Joaquin County Child Protective Services.

Beach's mother, Shanna Crabtree, alleged the children's father, Kevin Carames, kept the children away from Beach. She said their side of the family had not seen Serenity, her twin brother and an older brother since Carames was awarded full custody two years ago.

Beach previously said CPS removed her children from her after she and her husband were in a car accident and meth was found in her system.

The mom of three learned her daughter had died after being contacted by police on Tuesday.

Crabtree alleges that CPS documents about Serenity's death say she died of blunt force trauma. She had blood in her brain that was old and new indicating she had been abused before, she said.

"My 5-year-old grandson that was there knows what happened," Crabtree said. "He said he could hear his sister crying and moaning."

According to Beach's family, the three children while in the care of their stepmom were punched in the head, thrown to the ground and stepped on.

"Those kids deserve better than that," Crabtree said in tears.

"Those are my grandbabies. I'll never get to see (Serenity) again."

Stockton police Officer Joseph Silva said Serenity suffered "very severe injuries," but could not disclose more details. The boys also showed signs of abuse, Silva said.

Detectives are investigating, and although an arrest was made, it's still an active case, he said.

Carames' cousin, Damian Mastrapasqua, said that his family is still in shock and that Serenity's dad is a mess.

"Kevin is very upset," Mastrapasqua said over the phone from his home in Pennsylvania. "He loves his children and fought tooth and nail for him to get custody of his children."

Mastrapasqua said it's unfair for people to cast blame on Carames, who was not at home at the time of the incident Sunday.

He was out of the house when Chavez called him to say Serenity was unresponsive, Mastrapasqua said. Carames rushed home and 911 was immediately called. All he had to go by on what happened was what Chavez told him occurred, which was that it was an accident. Now it's known that wasn't the truth, he said.

"My cousin, Kevin, is being portrayed as someone who knew about or even participated in the abuse of his children," he said. "If he did anything wrong, he deserves what (Chavez) deserves, but I know him.

"He would never, ever abuse any child let alone his own child or allow it to happen."

Still, Beach and her family are adamant that Carames should have done more, they said.

"She turned 4 in August," said Serenity's stepdad Steven Beach. "She didn't have a life yet."

Serenity's family has set up a GoFundMe account to help pay for funeral expenses. To donate, visit https://www.gofundme.com/wqn7mg-funeral-arrangements.

Contact reporter Almendra Carpizo at (209) 546-8264 or acarpizo@recordnet.com. Follow her on Twitter @AlmendraCarpizo.

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