The father of three children allegedly drowned by their mother wants a judge to force a psychologist to produce records from her sessions with the woman, saying medical officials are improperly refusing to hand them over because they contain sensitive information.
A judge in October 2024 found that Liliana Carrillo was insane when her 6-month-old daughter, Sierra, 3-year-old daughter, Joanna, and her 2-year-old son, Terry, died in their Reseda apartment in April 2021. She was ordered to serve 75 years to life in a state hospital in January 2025.
The children’s father, Erick Denton, filed a lawsuit in Pasadena Superior Court a year after the deaths alleging members of the Los Angeles Police Department were negligent and didn’t take indications that Carrillo’s mental health was declining seriously and didn’t share information with county social workers.
Denton’s attorneys filed a request Friday, June 12, asking that the judge order psychologist Nichole M. Vienna to turn over records related to her evaluation of Carrillo’s mental state. They alleged in their filing that psychiatrist David S. Rad examined Carillo separately and noted in his report that Vienna found that Carrillo was mentally ill and suffered from racing thoughts and delusions. Rad also noted that Vienna believed Carillo was incapable of understanding what she was doing was wrong.
Denton’s attorneys said in the filings that Vienna has refused to turn over the records because they contain sensitive information. Vienna’s findings have already been disclosed and shared in the criminal prosecution, and with the criminal court, so there is nothing confidential or privileged about the records, they said.
In an interview from jail following her arrest, Carrillo told Bakersfield television station KGET-TV that she killed her children because she feared their abuse and sexual assault at the hands of others.
“I drowned them,” she said of her children. “I wasn’t about to hand my children off to be further abused.”
When asked by the KGET reporter if she regretted her actions, she said, “I wish my kids were alive, yes. Do I wish that I didn’t have to do that? Yes. But I prefer them not being tortured and abused on a regular basis for the rest of their life.”
Her attorney during the insanity hearing, Brandon Mata, could not be reached for comment on Saturday.
Reseda woman who admitted drowning her 3 young children pleads not guilty due to insanity