Beating Ruled Out in Mother’s Death

The county medical examiner’s office ruled Friday that Yolanda Camacho, who was found dead in her apartment Wednesday near her two dead infants, died of natural causes and that no medical evidence suggested foul play.

Dr. Harry J. Bonnell, who conducted the autopsies on Camacho and her 3-month-old twin daughters, said the 40-year-old woman died of a burst blood vessel in the brain.

Police had earlier considered the woman’s death suspicious and on Friday questioned her live-in companion, Alfonso Penaran-Topia. Bonnell said the decayed condition of the body may have led officers to mistakenly believe Camacho had suffered blows to the head.

Bonnell said that the two babies, Yvonne Yvette Mirsha and Yvette Angelina Marie, died of dehydration in the days after their mother’s death.

“The mother probably fell into unconsciousness immediately and died shortly after,” he said.

Camacho was found sprawled in the kitchen near an open refrigerator, with two milk bottles beside her body.

Although they heard an argument and the babies crying uncontrollably on the night of Aug. 23, neighbors did not call police. Officials did not discover the three deaths until a week later, when Camacho’s probation officer reported to them that she had missed several appointments.

Penaran was questioned and released by San Diego police. He had crossed into the United States from Tijuana late Thursday and surrendered to the Border Patrol.

“At this point, this case is not considered a murder case,” said Police Capt. Ron Newman. “The mother died and, with no one there to care for them, the babies died.”

Newman said that Penaran, whose name is also spelled Penarant, conceded that he and Camacho “had a very rocky relationship” but said he had left the tiny apartment nearly a week before the date on which officials now believe Camacho collapsed and died.

Neighbors told of hearing a loud argument between the couple Aug. 23, followed by a loud thud. But Penaran told police he was already in Tijuana on that date, after having decided to end his relationship with Camacho, Newman said.

Camacho had a history of drug use, which Bonnell noted can contribute to high blood pressure and heighten the risk of a fatal aneurysm. As a routine procedure, tests will be done to detect any drugs, Bonnell said.

In an interview with KFMB-TV, the CBS affiliate in San Diego, Penaran said through a translator: “It’s all hard for me to believe. It’s like a dream. I loved Yolanda and my daughters. . . . Maybe if I hadn’t left, this would not have happened.”

Penaran, 40, also denied that he abused Camacho, although neighbors have said they witnessed fights and saw bruises.

Newman, head of the Police Department’s homicide division, said Penaran has agreed to take a polygraph test next week.