Suspect Accused of Killing Woman, Cutting Out her Baby

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By Rudabeh Shahbazi

Summary

Araceli Camacho Gomez's body was found Saturday morning. The pregnant woman had been stabbed multiple times in the chest area, her baby cut from her womb.

Story Published: Jul 1, 2008 at 9:17 AM PST

KENNEWICK-- Investigators are playing it close to the vest, sharing very little about the attack that left a young woman dead in Columbia Park, another behind bars and a baby in critical condition in a Spokane hospital.

They held a press conference Monday to clear up a few details about the crime, but not many.

Araceli Camacho Gomez's body was found Saturday morning. The pregnant woman had been stabbed multiple times in the chest area, her baby cut from her womb.

Phiengchai Sisouvanh is the woman accused of aggravated murder in the first degree. She appeared in court Monday, where the judge read her her rights and appointed an interim attorney for her.

According to court documents, Sisouvanh called 911, saying she had delivered her own baby, but that it might be dead. Then she called back again. This time, police traced her location and found her in her car, wearing only a shirt, according to court documents.

They say she was holding what appeared to be part of an umbilical chord, and there was blood and tissue on the seat next to her, where police found a badly hurt new-born baby.

The affidavit says Sisouvanh had a crude doctor's kit in her purse, including a box-cutter, bloody gloves, paper towels, yarn and a mucus bulb. They also found a pair of baby socks and a bottle.

The district attorney concluded that it was a premeditated attack, and charged her with aggravated murder.

The documents say Sisouvanh kept asking if her baby was OK.

District Attorney Andy Miller declined to say if she has a mental condition, or if she was on drugs that night.

Gomez's body was found in Columbia park hours after Sisouvanh was found in her car.

One of Sisouvanh's family members told Action News she had been telling her family she was pregnant, and that her strange behavior of late made them worry she had been possessed.

The family said Sisouvanh worked with seniors in Pasco, but police would not confirm that, nor would they disclose the relationship between Gomez and Sisouvanh.

It is not clear if she is a US citizen, or a citizen of Laos.

Sisouvanh could face the death penalty.