A mother whose twin teenagers told police in Texas they were handcuffed and forced to drink bleach was in jail Friday in neighboring Louisiana, where records show the woman had pleaded guilty a decade earlier to charges of putting her kids in danger.
Zaikiya Duncan, 40, was arrested in Louisiana this week after doorbell videos showed the 15-year-old siblings, barefoot and holding handcuffs, knocking on homes before dawn in their suburban Houston neighborhood and asking for help. Duncan’s live-in boyfriend also was arrested.
Both were in jail in Baton Rouge, about 250 miles (400 kilometers) east of Houston, awaiting extradition on charges of aggravated assault, according to authorities. It was not clear Friday whether either had an attorney.
The brother and sister were severely malnourished and told police that abuse had been occurring for months, according to affidavit from a Harris County constable in Houston. They told authorities that Duncan handcuffed them, forced them to drink bleach and other household cleaners, and sprayed oven cleaner in their mouths “if they talked too much,” the affidavit said.
The other children were found safe.
An affidavit says the 15-year-old malnourished twins told authorities their mother handcuffed them and made them drink bleach.
