Mother held without bond after 12-year-old autistic son found in New Orleans lagoon; prosecutors say newborn tested positive for cocaine

A New Orleans woman was ordered held without bond Monday after prosecutors said she should be denied bail following allegations that her 12-year-old autistic son wandered unsupervised, was attacked by an alligator and later recovered from a nearby waterway, and that she and a newborn previously tested positive for cocaine, according to court filings and child welfare investigators.

Hilda Vasquez, 34, was arrested on charges of second-degree cruelty to a juvenile and negligent homicide after her son, identified by authorities as Bryan, was found dead in a lagoon in New Orleans East on Aug. 26. Prosecutors told a magistrate that a Department of Children and Family Services investigation found that Vasquez and her newborn tested positive for cocaine at a hospital in July and argued she posed a danger to her children and the community.

According to court documents and local news reports, Bryan, who was nonverbal and had permanent disabilities from earlier injuries, was last seen on surveillance footage near a lagoon on Aug. 14 at about 5:20 a.m. He was reported missing later that morning at about 10:20 a.m. Authorities conducted an extensive search involving volunteers, neighbors and divers for two weeks before his body was located in a canal a few blocks from his home on Aug. 26.

The Orleans Parish coroner’s office concluded the boy was attacked by an alligator. United Cajun Navy volunteer Jon Gusanders, who helped recover the body using a drone, said alligators had the body underwater and that he had to distract the animals with the drone because they repeatedly tried to keep the body submerged. Officials estimated the animals in the area were between 6 and 10 feet long. The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries subsequently removed alligators from the body of water where the body was found.

Prosecutors told the judge that records from the city’s child-welfare agency showed two prior DCFS cases involving Vasquez, including charges in 2014 of cruelty to juveniles after Bryan, then an infant, sustained a fractured skull and broken legs. Those injuries, the agency said, resulted in long-term disabilities. Court filings describe the 2014 matter as part of the agency’s file on Vasquez and her children.

Vasquez has been accused of failing to provide adequate supervision on the morning Bryan disappeared. Prosecutors cited the July hospital drug screens in arguing for detention, saying the positive tests for cocaine involving Vasquez and the newborn raised concerns about her fitness as a caregiver.

Magistrate Commissioner Jonathan Friedman ordered Vasquez held without bond during the hearing. A week earlier, a separate court order required Vasquez to stay away from her three living children. The new criminal case remains pending and prosecutors said they would continue to pursue the charges.

Local authorities and volunteer searchers said they believed alligators were present in the area in part because residents had been feeding wildlife, a practice wildlife officials say attracts and concentrates predators. The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and local law enforcement do not comment on ongoing investigations beyond court filings and coroner findings.

Vasquez’s arraignment and any forthcoming hearings will take place in Orleans Parish criminal court. The case has drawn attention from neighbors and advocacy groups concerned about child welfare and supervision, the presence of dangerous wildlife in residential canals, and prior involvement of child-protection services in the family. Prosecutors and child-welfare officials say the facts alleged in filings are central to decisions about custody, bail and potential criminal liability as the investigation continues.