Angelique Robledo had to deal with a mother’s worst fear, a plot to steal her baby.
During the summer in 2010, Robledo discovered she was pregnant. Despite only being 17, this Arizona resident was ready to make adjustments and become a mom. She already knew she loved her baby.
Robledo became friends with Kassandra Toruga, another teenager, who claimed to also be pregnant. The two bonded quickly over their status of future teen mothers. Robledo had no reason to doubt Toruga’s claim that she was pregnant; she used a picture of an ultrasound as her profile picture on MySpace. Robledo and Toruga quickly became friends, or at least Robledo thought they did.
That all changed on Feb. 16, 2011, when the two were together at Robledo’s house.
Robledo smelled smoke and realized that somehow, her bedroom closet had caught on fire. She had a gut feeling that something was seriously wrong, not just the fire.
After a quick call to emergency services, the police arrived. Not only did they manage to put out the fire, but they discovered something very twisted in Toruga’s bag. There were a pair of scissors and two big butcher knives mixed in with baby clothes and diapers.
Almost a full year after the incident, Robledo talked to KNXV Phoenix about the experience.
This was when Toruga was sentenced and delivered a confession. According to Robledo:
“The confession made it more real. That this is what she was trying to do to me.”
Earlier in the same day that the video aired, Toruga changed her plea to “guilty except insane.” The entire experience has had a very strong, negative effect on Robledo.
“I don’t trust anybody, anybody.”
Robledo had shared plenty of details with Toruga that she didn’t tell anyone else and they had close, personal conversations.
“I shared things with her. Like we’d talk about pregnancy together, and I never thought she was lying.”
According to the report, Toruga got Robledo in a room with just the two of them, then turned off the lights and promised her a surprise. Luckily, Robledo trusted her instinct:
“What my gut feeling was telling me was that I was going to get stabbed.”
Because of this instinct, she was shocked to smell smoke from the fire in her closet. When the police arrived and discovered what Toruga had in her bag, Robledo was horrified. Through tears, she told reporters:
“To know that my instincts were right on that made me feel good because I knew that God was on my side.”
Eventually, police reported that Toruga confessed and plead guilty.
Her plan was to cut the baby out of Robledo, who was nine months pregnant at the time of the incident. She would then call the baby her own child. No one knows if Toruga was ever actually pregnant. According to CBS News, Toruga has a history of schizophrenia, which may have contributed to her plans.
During the sentencing for Toruga in March 2013, AZ Family reported that Robledo said:
“Not only did you try to kill me and take my son, you plotted this out and came to my house with the intention to walk away with my baby.”
Toruga was originally charged with burglary, arson, and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. She was eventually sentenced to seven and a half years in prison.
As for Robledo, she and her son, Rylan, are doing well.
Robledo occasionally posts photos on her Facebook page. Now, her family has grown to include another boy and a baby girl.
Although this image doesn’t have a caption, it is most likely Rylan, considering it was posted last year when he would have been about 5. He is likely playing with his younger brother, who appears in other photos on Robledo’s Facebook page, as well.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
