Prosecutors say one twin died and another nearly died after days alone in a Southeast apartment.

WASHINGTON — A 25-year-old D.C. mother was ordered held without bond after prosecutors accused her of leaving her 13-month-old twins alone for days, causing her daughter’s death and leaving her son badly dehydrated and malnourished.

Valencia Duke faces first-degree felony murder and two counts of first-degree cruelty to children in the Jan. 18 death of her daughter, Mazouri Jones, and the near death of Mazouri’s twin brother. The case moved from a medical emergency in January to a homicide charge in June after the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled that the girl died from dehydration and malnourishment due to neglect. Prosecutors said the boy survived after several days of hospital care.

Superior Court Judge Heidi Hermann found probable cause during Duke’s first court appearance June 4 and ordered her jailed without bond while the case moves forward. Prosecutors said Duke was arrested one day earlier by members of the Capitol Regional Fugitive Task Force on a D.C. Superior Court warrant. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro announced the charges with Interim Metropolitan Police Chief Jeffery W. Carroll. The government said in court filings that the children were left alone in Duke’s residence between Jan. 14 and Jan. 18, a four-day period that ended when police and emergency medical crews entered the Southern Avenue apartment.

The first call came at about 6:03 p.m. Jan. 18, when Sixth District officers were sent to the 4700 block of Southern Avenue Southeast for a report of an unconscious child. Officers found both 13-month-old twins inside the apartment. D.C. Fire and EMS crews found no signs of life in the girl and pronounced her dead at the scene. Her brother was alive but needed urgent care. Authorities said he was taken to a local hospital, where he remained for several days. Court records described the girl as deceased and decomposing when officers arrived, while the boy was dehydrated and malnourished.

Investigators said the timing of Duke’s absence became a central part of the case. Court records cited by local reporting said Duke was inside the apartment with the twins for only about two hours over more than 92 hours. Investigators said she first told police the children had been left with a babysitter, then later admitted that she had left them alone for days. Police have not publicly identified the surviving boy, and his current condition has not been released. The exact moment when Mazouri died has not been publicly stated, but officials said the medical examiner’s findings linked her death to dehydration, malnourishment and neglect.

Photos described in charging documents showed a cluttered and dirty living space around the children. Investigators said the apartment contained food debris, laundry near the playpen, sinks filled with water, baby formula with insects inside, rancid liquids and bags of suspected crack cocaine. The twins were found in a playpen, according to local reports that cited court records. Medical staff later reported that the boy was so hungry when he arrived for care that he tried to eat a paramedic’s stethoscope, believing it was food. He also had hypothermia, and his ribs were visible, according to those accounts.

The medical examiner’s April 3 ruling changed the case from a child death investigation into a homicide investigation. The ruling said Mazouri’s cause of death was dehydration and malnourishment due to neglect, and that the manner of death was homicide. Police identified her as 13-month-old Mazouri Jones of Southeast Washington. After the ruling, investigators continued building the case until the arrest warrant was issued. Duke was charged under D.C. law with first-degree felony murder, a count tied to the allegation that a death happened during the commission of child cruelty. The complaint remains an accusation, and Duke is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.

In court, Duke’s attorney told the judge that Duke is pregnant. Local reports said the hearing also revealed that she has an older child. Prosecutors did not release information about who had custody of any other child or whether child welfare agencies had prior contact with the family. A prosecutor assigned to the case, Assistant U.S. Attorney Emma McArthur, is handling the matter for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. The Metropolitan Police Department’s Special Victims Unit is leading the investigation. Officials have not said whether more charges are expected or whether anyone else is under review.

The case drew shock in the Southern Avenue neighborhood, where parents described the allegations as hard to understand. One nearby parent asked how a mother could leave her own children in that condition. Demetria Fultz, a neighborhood resident who said she lost her 10-year-old son in a bus crash, said hearing about a child’s death close to home was painful. “It’s heartbreaking to hear something like that that came in this neighborhood,” Fultz said. She said the children’s ages made the case even more disturbing. Investigators also wrote that Duke showed no emotion when she learned that her daughter had died.

The next major steps are expected to focus on court review of the complaint, medical evidence, police reports and any further hearing dates set by the court. Duke remains held without bond as the felony murder and child cruelty case proceeds in D.C. Superior Court.

Author note: Last updated July 8, 2026.