Troubling accusations have emerged against a couple in California, who are alleged to have been involved in the death of a 7-year-old girl and the serious injury of her 5-year-old sister. The couple has provided conflicting accounts of the events leading up to the tragedy.

In a jailhouse interview with ABC affiliate KXTV, 26-year-old Jessica Savangsy from Roseville recounted the harrowing moment she discovered her daughter, Adalynn, unresponsive on a Monday morning. “I woke up around 7 and she was just stiff cold,” Savangsy said, describing her reaction upon finding Adalynn.

Overcome with emotion, Savangsy recalled, “I started crying and I just grabbed her. I was just like, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

Savangsy has accused her boyfriend, Retuquel Dupree, a former police officer, of being the perpetrator behind Adalynn’s death and the severe injuries inflicted on her younger sister. She claims Dupree abused and beat the children.

However, Dupree has categorically denied these allegations, maintaining that he played no role in the tragic death of Adalynn.

“I never abused those kids,” Dupree told KXTV in a separate jailhouse interview. “I will never hurt kids,” he said. “I would never hurt a kid.”

Roseville police officers responded to the couple’s home around 7:37 a.m. after receiving a “medical aid call for service” and a report of an unresponsive 7-year-old girl. Adalynn was found inside the house and transported to a local hospital for treatment, where she later died.

“Officers conducted a sweep of the residence and located an additional 5-year-old girl in a bedroom who also had injuries,” a police press release says. “She was transported to the hospital for treatment as well. Two additional kids were asleep inside the house and were not injured. Sadly, the 7-year-old was pronounced deceased at the hospital.”

Dupree told KXTV that he was not home the day before police were called and was asleep when Savangsy told him she found Adalynn. He alleges that the children’s injuries came at the hands of Savangsy.

“They didn’t even call her ‘my mom,’” Dupree blasted. “They would call her Jessica and then they would, um, tell me… ‘I want Jessica to leave. I want to stay with you.’”

The Citrus Heights Police Department fired Dupree in 2021, although the reason for the termination is unclear. He later filed a civil lawsuit that is currently pending, claiming it was because of his race, according to KXTV. Both he and Savangsy have been charged with murder, conspiracy, and felony child abuse. Torture charges are also expected to be filed, KXTV reports.

Savangsy has called for each of them to be punished, saying, “The best way I can bring justice to my daughters is I do the time and Dupree does the time.”