Mother of Girls Killed by Train Is Released

RANCHO CUCAMONGA — Prosecutors on Thursday declined to file criminal charges against the mother who slept while her two young daughters wandered out of the house and were struck and killed by a Metrolink train.

Jackie Robles was released from a San Bernardino County jail to family members who immediately cloaked her in a black jacket and rushed her into a waiting van and away from the news media glare.

But even though she was released from custody, Robles remains on tenterhooks while the investigation of the case continues.

At issue is whether Robles, 21, should be charged with felony child endangerment because her daughters--3-year-old Alexes Robles and 22-month-old Deziree Soto--wandered half a block from their Upland home to play on the railroad tracks, where they were struck and killed by the commuter train while their mother was asleep.

Shortly after her daughters were killed Tuesday morning, Robles was whisked away by Upland police for questioning. She was arrested about 4 1/2 hours later and jailed.

San Bernardino County Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard Maxwell, head of the criminal prosecutions office, said Thursday more time was needed to evaluate the case. As a result, Robles--who had been held on $50,000 bail pending her arraignment on Thursday--was freed from her jail cell.

“That’s exactly what they should have done from the very beginning--let her remain free during the investigation,” said Robles’ attorney, Chaim Magnum. “She loves her children and all of a sudden she didn’t have her freedom to mourn, to grieve.”

Robles was released shortly after 6 p.m., as family members in the jail lobby tearfully watched the television news, forcing them to relive the tragedy yet again.

When Robles was escorted through a hallway to the lobby by jail personnel, appearing physically and emotionally drained, family members encircled her, and one man put the jacket over her, hiding her from view. They then rushed her through the jail lobby and to a waiting van.

Earlier, Jenny Provenghi, Robles’ aunt, described her as being “in shock, in pieces.”

Provenghi, serving as a family spokeswoman, said everyone “is very relieved” that prosecutors did not file charges Thursday. Provenghi said of the continuing investigation, “We’re just going to have to take one day at a time.”

She said Robles “hasn’t been resentful of anyone” over the tragedy. Provenghi added that police “simply reacted to the situation” in arresting her.

“All of this happened so quickly,” Provenghi said. “We were going from what to do with the kids for Halloween to this. . . . We’re just going to hold her a lot when we get home.”

Robles will be spending the next few days at other family members’ homes. Provenghi said Robles hoped to soon be reunited with her 2-month-old son, who is in the temporary custody of another aunt.

“I’m happy she’s getting out, but she never should have been arrested in the first place,” said Jessica Harris, who lives in the same apartment building as the Robles family.

Neither Upland police nor the district attorney’s office would discuss what evidence they have that could still prompt prosecution of Robles, because their investigation remains open.

“It will probably take us a couple of weeks to evaluate everything and make a decision on whether to file criminal charges,” Maxwell said. “It is not completely black and white. There’s quite a volume of evidence that needs to be evaluated, and we want to do some more investigation to try to clarify the situation some more,” he said. “It doesn’t mean the case will or will not be filed. I’m not telegraphing either answer.”

Maxwell said he would not second-guess the decision by Upland police to arrest Robles, despite his own office’s hesitance to move forward with the case.

“They have a hard job to do and they have a different standard,” he said. “They arrest people based on probable cause, and we have a different--and greater--standard, of ‘beyond a reasonable doubt.’ ”

He said that if the decision is made to prosecute Robles, she will either be rearrested or notified through her attorney to appear in court for arraignment.

Maxwell said public interest in the case--including criticism of the police for arresting Robles--did not influence the decision Thursday to not file charges. “We have not been influenced by public discussion,” he said.

Upland Police Chief Martin E. Thouvenell defended his department’s action Thursday.

“People need to realize we didn’t go out and put this woman in jail just because she fell asleep and her kids got out. There is other evidence, other facts.”

The chief added, “I would like to put it all [the facts] out to the public, but this is an ongoing investigation and I don’t want to jeopardize the case. . . . I feel strongly there is enough evidence to support a filing [of charges] by the D.A.”

Thouvenell said the public criticism of his department is “very frustrating.”

“This case affected a lot of people. A lot of people [at the police department] were traumatized too. We do have sympathy for the mother, but we have to think about public safety and the two kids who didn’t get to see much of their lives.”

The case began Tuesday morning, when Robles fed the girls breakfast and all three then sat down in front of the television, according to Robles’ mother, Rosemary Robles, who is living temporarily at the home but had already left for work.

The girls’ mother--apparently exhausted after tending to her sick 2-month-old son the previous night--fell asleep, and the girls walked out of the second-floor apartment and down the block, where they were last seen by at least one resident playing on the railroad tracks.

That man said he assumed the girls’ mother was with them. Another neighbor said he saw the unattended toddlers walking playfully down the street--in the direction of the tracks--but didn’t know where they lived and assumed they were heading home.

Metrolink officials--who previously said the cost of installing fences along the tracks is prohibitive--have since announced they will install a mile of fencing between the tracks and the working-class neighborhood where Robles lives.

Two dozen Metrolink trains pass the neighborhood daily at speeds up to 79 mph.

In March, a 19-year-old man was struck and killed about a mile away when he tried to jump past an oncoming Metrolink train so he could be shielded from people who were throwing rocks at him.

Funeral arrangements for the two young girls are pending, partly because the family lacks the money to pay for them, a family spokesman said.

To help with expenses, the Alexes Robles and Deziree Soto Memorial Trust Fund has been set up to accept donations at the First Pacific National Bank in Temecula.