Alleged Daughter-Drowner Lorna Valle Denied Psychiatric Help Because She is an Illegal Immigrant, Cousin Says

By Tessa Stuart Thu., Feb. 16 2012 at 10:43 AM

Lorna Valle with Marian and Lindsay Stephanie Taque-Valle.

The cousin of Lorna Valle, the mother who allegedly tried to drown her two daughters in the bathtub of a converted garage in South Los Angeles yesterday, says she was denied treatment at a hospital because she was an illegal immigrant.

Valle's one-year-old daughter passed away en route to the hospital; her five-year-old is still listed in "grave" condition at Children's Hospital Los Angeles.

Speaking to KTLA, Luis Padillas said his cousin, who is originally from Guatemala, was severely depressed and wanted to go home. Valle sought help from a local hospital, but "the hospital didn't want to treat her because we didn't have papers," he told the station's reporter in Spanish. Padillas said the family is seeking a lawyer to file a negligence suit against the hospital.

Video after the jump.

Tags:

drowning, KTLA, Lorna Valle, Luis Padillas

We Recommend

Mario Mejia

MOTHERS KILL SONS AND OTHER JUST TRIED TO KILL THAT HAPPENS

MzJask

oh this woman has issues, alright, and it aint depression- its DENIAL. same with the family. oh please, you are a 32 year old MOTHER- those babies had no choice but to look to you for love and care and what- bc you are "homesick" you choose to KILL THEM??? you're never gonna see your precious guate again after that, for sure.i've said it before and i'll say it again- there should be laws that state people should be mentally evaluated to see if they are capable of raising another life- dont do it AFTER the fact, when someone [mainly the children] turn up dead!!!i have NO SYMPATHY for this hag.. only the devastated family she leaves behind.

Liz Jackson

Please, blame the system for the killing. Does anyone take responsibility for their own actions anymore. If she was that homesick for her home country then maybe it was her husband's fault for not taking her back to Guatamala!

Carmen Solares

What a horrible situation! So sad and even worst she tried to get help to prevent this to happend and look how things turn now... So sad

Ninita

I am a 27 years old doctor,mature and beautiful. and now i am seeking a good man who can give me real love, so i got a sername Andromeda2002 on Agedate.СòM, a nice and free place for younger women and older men,or older women and younger men, to interact with each other.Maybe you wanna check out or tell your friends.

Ninita

ylg

This just doesn't ring true. A hospital doesn't care about a person's legal status. They only care about how they are going to get paid. Most likely, these people didn't have a way to pay and didn't know any other avenues. I'm sorry this happened, but don't try to make a quick buck off the system, because you didn't know how to work it.

Mrunnels

Does anyone know which hospital she went to for help?

Yast75

LAC+USC

Tessa Stuart

Padillas told KTLA he did not know which hospital it was.

Mrunnels

Thanks for replying...

Rick Abrams

If we were a civilized society, such things would not occur. However, one needs not be undocumented to be denied psychiatric help. I have personally seen hospitals like Hollywood Presbyterian and White Memorial kick out indigent patients in the throes of psychotic breaks.

Remember when Kaiser Permanente was caught dumping people out on to skid row?

But for Obama's back room deals with Health Insurance and Big Pharma, we would have had universal health care and the burden would have been taken off the backs of employers and the costs would have gone down as we would not have to pay the extra 33% which insurance companies add to medical bills. Obama killed universal coverage before the GOP had a chance.