A 14-year string of mugshots reveals the harrowing decline of a meth-addicted mother accused of stomping her nine-year-old son to death.
Synthia Varela-Casaus' problems began when she was 15 and soon spiralled into a full-blown drug addiction which her family said consumed her life.
Aged just 38, she is charged with killing her son Omaree in her Alburquerque home in December, six months after he made a desperate 911 call to police who did little to help.
Then and now: Synthia Varela-Casaus in September 2000 (left), and after she was arrested over her son's death. Her stepmother said meth was responsible for a downward spiral and left her scarred and pockmarked
Just a child: Omaree was only nine years old when he was found dead in his Alburquerque home in December
Lapel Cam: Police Visit Omaree's House
Police lapel cam footage of visit to home where Omaree Varela lived and may have been another opportunity for authorities to intervene. Six months later, the 9-year-old boy was dead, allegedly killed by his mother,...
She originally claimed he injured himself falling off of a bouncy horse but later admitted kicking the child, according to Alburquerque Police.
Local media reports claimed she told them she had 'kicked him the wrong way' while disciplining him, and he fell over and hit his head.
Now this series of police mugshots show Varela-Casaus' involvement with the authorities has gone back at least 14 years.
She has been arrested more than 20 times on suspicion of offenses from meth possession to prostitution - something her family said dated to her teenage years.
Speaking to the Alburquerque Journal, her stepmother described Varela-Casaus' destructive lifestyle in one word: 'meth'.
'It just ruined her life,' she said. 'She hung around meth dealers and pimps. That became her whole life.'
Baby-faced: Synthia Varela-Casaus in the first of many police mugshots, taken in late February 2000
Youth: Aged around 24, Synthia Varela-Casaus appears in police mugshots in August (left) and November 2000
Arrests: Police have held her more than 20 times, including in June 2001 (left) and October of that year (right)
Decline: By the time of these photos in May 2001 (left) and September 2002, her distinctive tattoo is visible
Varela-Casaus began living with a known drug dealer and hardened criminal when she was still a teenager, her stepmother added.
Often the children would end up staying with relatives and Varela-Casaus gave up custody of one child entirely to her stepmother.
'There were a few months when she’d get sober and we’d be in contact again, but then she’d go back to using meth and disappear,' she said.
Varela-Casaus is being held on a $100,000 cash bond and is next due in court in August for a pre-trial hearing.
She is charged with intentional child abuse resulting in death, five other counts of intentional child abuse and tampering with evidence.
Last night her partner Steve Casaus - allegedly heard shouting 'f**k you Omaree! F**k you' in a tearful 911 call the boy made six months before his death - was also indicted over the case.
Terrible toll: The arrests ranging from possession to prostitution continued to January (left) and March 2003
Six child abuse charges have been filed against the woman, pictured in May 2003 (left) and September 2003
Several years on: The drug's effect can begin to be seen seriously in October 2006 (left) and November 2006
He is charged with six counts of child abuse, one of tampering with evidence and two of bribing a witness.
Casaus is also charged in a drug case with two counts of trafficking, possessing marijuana and drug paraphernalia, DWI and reckless driving.
Two police officers were put on leave after it emerged they visited Omaree's home six months before his death, but did not follow up the visit or file a report.
Charged: Last night the boy's stepfather Steve Casaus was also indicted over the case
That was despite the boy's tearful 911 call in which a man and a woman, reportedly his mother and stepfather, can be heard firing off an expletive-laden rant at him in the background.
In a recording of the call, the boy complains about a bruise and both adults mock him.
‘He's a s***, everything f*****g hurts you,’ says the man.
‘How can it hurt you one day and not the next day Omaree? It doesn't, does it?! You just want attention right!?’ the woman adds.
The abusers then begin threatening violence on the boy.
‘Yeah, f*****g beat the s*** out of you Omaree,’ the man says.
Now crying, Omaree shouts ‘stop, please.’
‘Shut the f*** up before I really pop you hard man,’ the man fires back.
‘You caused this on yourself Omaree, cause you don’t want to f*****g change do you?’ the woman shouts.
And the man says: ‘You want me to be your dad? F*** you! I ain't gonna be s*** to you. Don't you even f*****g look at me as your dad. F*** you Omaree! F*** you.
‘I never hated nobody like you in my life, ever... You know that Omaree. I hate you more than I ever hated anybody in my whole life. And I've been on this earth 41 years, and nobody made me feel the way you do Omaree.’
Horrors: By January (left) and March 2007, Varela-Casaus' face appears scarred and pockmarked
The drug appears to have left a terrible effect according to these mugshots from April (left) and May 2010
As she is now: Synthia Varela-Casaus after she was arrested on suspicion of killing her nine-year-old son
POWERFUL ADDICTION, HORRIFIC DESTRUCTION: THE EFFECTS OF METH
Methamphetamine - known as meth and, in one form, crystal meth - is a general name for several stimulant drugs in the amphetamine family.
Brought violently to the public consciousness by hit TV shows such as Breaking Bad, they make users alert and awake but also agitated, paranoid, confused and aggressive.
The crystal form (right) is the most powerful and addictive.
Some compare it to crack cocaine as both are smoked and give an intense, powerful ‘high’ followed by a very severe ‘comedown’.
It can trigger delusional or psychotic episodes and in the long term wreaks havoc with users' skin and general health.
Evidence suggests long-term methamphetamine use can cause brain damage. The risk can gradually be reduced if the user stays off the drug for a long time.
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