FORT WORTH, Texas – A 9-month-old girl who was the lone survivor of her mother's attempt to hang herself and her four children will live temporarily with an aunt, attorneys said Tuesday.
Evelyn Frayre has been in foster care since she was released from the hospital the day after the May 29 hangings.
Her mother, Gilberta Estrada, hanged all four daughters -- ages 5, 3, 1 and 8 months -- then hanged herself with pieces of clothing from a wooden rack in a closet in their mobile home in Hudson Oaks, about 25 miles west of Fort Worth.
Attorneys for the families of Estrada and Gregorio Frayre Rodriguez, the baby's father, met behind closed doors Tuesday to discuss who could best care for the baby.
Marissa Gonzales, a spokeswoman for Child Protective Services, said both families agreed Evelyn should live with her paternal aunt and that Frayre would have supervised weekly visitation but would probably seek permanent custody. Alejandra Estrada, a maternal aunt who also was seeking custody, will see the baby on weekends, Gonzales said.
"She's doing great," Gonzales said of the child. "She's happy and healthy and we're glad she's going to be spending more time with her family."
Doctors say Evelyn survived because she weighed only 20 pounds and her neck was protected by fatty tissue that kept it from breaking or cutting off her air supply while she was suspended in the closet.
The medical examiner has said Estrada hanged her daughters and herself about an hour or so before her sister broke into their trailer and found them, worried after being alerted that she had not shown up for work.
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