By Sara Beth Williams–
A former employee of the Citrus Heights Police Department has been arrested along with his girlfriend following the death of a 7-year-old, multiple news sources have reported.
Retuquel Dupree, 27, and Jessica Savangsy, 26, were booked into the South Placer County Jail Monday on suspicion of murder, conspiracy, and felony child abuse following an ongoing investigation into the death of one child, age 7, who died. Dupree’s charges also included carrying a loaded firearm in a public place, reports say.
Dupree and Savangsy were in a dating relationship. The 7-year-old was Savangsy’s biological child. It’s not immediately known what Dupree’s relationship is with the child.
On Monday morning, Roseville police responded to a home in Roseville to reports of an unresponsive juvenile girl police said. The girl was rushed to the hospital where she was later declared dead, authorities said. Another 5-year-old child was also found injured at the home and taken to the hospital.
Two other children were discovered in the home sleeping and unharmed reports say.
Local news outlets report that Dupree was a police officer with the Citrus Heights Police Department for a short period of time in 2021. The department confirmed with The Sentinel Tuesday that Dupree was employed from June 8, 2021 to August 5, 2021.
According to a local news report from March 2022, Dupree alleged that a false police report against him filed by the mother of his children led to an internal investigation and his eventual removal from the Police Department. Dupree said the mother confessed to making false claims, and that he was cleared of wrongdoing, but alleged that he still was not able to find another job in law enforcement. The claim involved an accusation of pushing her, he said.
According to the Placer County Sheriff’s Office, Savangsy and Dupree were previously booked for conspiracy and grand theft charges on Oct. 6, but were released on bail.
KCRA reported that Dupree’s sister has spoken out in defense of her brother, saying he “is nowhere ever capable of something like this. He has no life without those girls. He would have touched both ends of the world about those girls.”
