PD: Mother wished she had abortions instead of children

SURPRISE, AZ - A Valley mother is in jail after she tried to abandon her children and move to California to become a stripper, according to police.

Officers in Surprise said 29-year-old Christina Muniz is involved in one of the worst cases of child neglect they've ever come across. They said Muniz could have cared less whether her own children, ages 6 and 11, lived or died.

Muniz made her first court appearance Monday after she was arrested for attacking her 11-year-old in front of officers.

Police went to her home in Surprise Friday after receiving a frantic call from her 11-year-old son who said she was leaving them and heading to California.

Officers thought it was a joke at first, but when they showed up, Muniz told them she despised her sons and was leaving.

"The mother had every intention of leaving them; that was something she was trying to do,” Sgt. Mark Ortega of the Surprise Police Department said. “[Muniz] said she was sick of them, she didn't want to be a mother anymore and wanted to start over."

Child Protective Services showed up and did an inspection of the house, which they said was filthy and littered with dirty clothes.

Ortega said the children told them Muniz made them cook, clean and watch out for themselves. They said she spent more of her money on alcohol than on food for them.

"The living conditions were bad, but more than that was them being told that, ‘I'm sorry I ever had you. I wish I had aborted the two of you.' Those types of things were told to them constantly and they were just made to feel like less than nothing, but the funny thing is, all the way to the end they were looking for her affection," Ortega said.

The children were removed from the home by CPS.

According to Ortega, "The officer noted in the report how extremely happy she was and excited that they were gone. She was excited she could start her life over and that she could follow her dream of wanting to become a stripper and move to California."

Before the children were taken into custody, the 11-year-old tried to hug his mother goodbye. But Ortega said that’s when Muniz screamed at her son to get away and punched him in the stomach.

Muniz was arrested for aggravated assault on a minor and faces a number of other charges in court.

CPS is now looking to reunite Muniz’s children with their biological father.