BEXAR COUNTY, Texas – Jessica Arroyo was brought to tears on Tuesday when she saw the memorial on Chancery Drive.
“They’re not going to be forgotten,” she said.
The memorial honors Sevani Stevenson, 6, and Miyani Islar, 3, who were found dead over the weekend in west Bexar County. As their mother faces two charges of injury to a child, people close to the family say they’re heartbroken.
“We might not be a family by blood, but this was our family,” Sirena Ray said. “This was our village.”
The four women who started the memorial met Tiona Islar and her two children at Haven for Hope.
“We looked after each other’s kids,” Crystal Henry said.
As of Tuesday evening, Tiona Islar is in the Bexar County jail.
On Tuesday, a spokesperson with the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office said the Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office had finished both of the children’s autopsies, but a cause or manner of death for both would not be released until toxicology results come in.
The same spokesperson told KSAT deputies had visited their home before, and now, they’re working with Child Protective Services to find out what happened.
“Look twice over your shoulders and think of your children,” Sierra Ray said. “Don’t let this bad ending be their bad ending.”
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