Overview

• New Orleans police arrested Hilda Vasquez on charges of negligent homicide and second-degree cruelty to juveniles; she remains jailed pending a Sept. 15 dangerousness hearing with protective orders barring contact with her other children.
• Volunteers with the United Cajun Navy located Bryan Vasquez’s body on Aug. 26 using a thermal drone in a lagoon near his New Orleans East home, and the coroner ruled blunt force trauma consistent with an alligator attack and drowning.
• An alligator trapped in Lacombe contained apparent human remains described as upper body parts, and the Orleans Parish Coroner says DNA testing will determine whether they are Bryan’s.
• An arrest affidavit alleges Vasquez left Bryan and an 11-year-old sibling alone on Aug. 14, failed to secure a window despite prior escapes, and did not check on Bryan before leaving the home.
• Court and agency records detail prior intervention by DCFS after Bryan suffered severe injuries as an infant and a past conviction related to his care, while NOPD conducts an internal review of a nearly five-hour delay in responding to the initial 911 call.