Salinas couple arrested in child abuse murder could face death penalty.

A Salinas-area couple could face the death penalty if convicted for the slaying of two children whose bodies were found inside a plastic container in a Northern California storage unit earlier this week.

The discovery of the children came about after law enforcement in Quincy, California, rescued a tortured and starved a 9-year-old girl. The girl, who is believed to be blood-related to the two dead children, was found inside a locked vehicle with broken bones on her shoulder and fingers, and a dislocated jaw.

“This is certainly, in my 32-year law enforcement career, the most egregious child abuse-homicide case I’ve ever seen,” Salinas Police Chief Kelly McMillin told a crowd of reporters on Thursday.

The children’s legal guardian and aunt, Tami Joy Huntsman, 39, and her “companion,” 17-year-old Gonzalo Curiel, were arrested on Dec. 11 after authorities rescued the 9-year-old in a vehicle near an apartment where the couple was staying.

Monterey County District Attorney Dean Flippo announced Huntsman and Curiel will be charged with first-degree murder with a special circumstance that makes them eligible for the death penalty or life without parole. The couple also faces a torture charge. Curiel will be charged as an adult.

“We are all devastated by the nature of the abuse we’ve seen and are committed to bringing those responsible to justice,” Flippo said. “But we are going to file the special circumstance to seek the death penalty.”

Delylah and Shaun Tara, ages 3 and 6, respectively, have been identified by authorities as the two children found dead inside the storage unit despite an autopsy not being able to confirm that.

“We are confident that these are the children who were killed,” Monterey County Dean Flippo said.

But authorities are not very confident about the “family dynamics” that resulted in this crime and the timelines of the event.

For one, it is unknown when the children died. McMillin said the children died from the “ongoing physical abuse,” which started in Salinas and stretched throughout multiple jurisdictions between the Central Coast and Northern California.

“We have a a very widespread crime scene,” McMillin says.

As the news of the grisly crime continues to rattle the community including veteran law enforcement officers, the family of the children continues to mourn and the community is beginning to question the system that failed these children.

Four complaints were filed with the County Department of Social Services over the past year in relation to these children. All four were referrals for neglect, which Social Services Director Elliott Robinson says are treated differently than referrals for child abuse.

Salinas police were called twice in the past six months by anonymous callers to report suspected child abuse. One of those times, police did not find anything suspicious, only a child sleeping and another one doing homework. The second time, no one answered and police left the residence.

In defense of his police department, McMillin said: “Right off the bat, Ms. Huntsman failed these children.” He added, “there is no suggestion that any family member was responsible for these kids.”

But the family is left mourning during the holidays, which could be especially hard. One family member, who declined to be named, said she had already bought Christmas presents for the kids when she heard about the crime.

Outside the house where the children and the accused couple used to live, three small red stockings hang from a fence along with two heart-shaped balloons, serving as a small memorial.

“Last year, [Tami] was the Mary Poppins of the neighborhood,” the family member said.