ROSEVILLE, Calif. — A Roseville foster mother who was charged in the drowning deaths of twin toddlers pleaded not guilty in her first court appearance Wednesday at Placer County Superior Court.
In handcuffs and a red jump suit, Schitara Victoria Page faced a judge for the first time after twin boys, Legend and Sincere Strong, drowned at her Roseville home pool last October.
“My client maintains her innocence,” said Page’s attorney during the first court appearance.
The 37-year-old pleaded not guilty to two counts of cruelty to child by abuse, neglect, or endangering health with special allegation of willful harm of injury resulting in death.
“It was a sigh of relief. I felt that we finally had some closure. I felt that she should have been arrested a while ago,” said LaKisha Nelson Strong, who is a close family member of the twins. “I do not understand why is there so much leniency with this woman.”
Page was recently arrested. Investigators were called to Page’s home on Waterford Glen Circle in early October of 2023 for two boys who were found unresponsive and later died.
Child Protective Services documents reviewed by ABC10 revealed the twins were living with Page for nearly 10 months. It also said Page failed to provide adequate supervision for the twins. She told investigators she looked away for five minutes and found them in the pool, called 911 and started CPR.
Page is back home after the judge ruled she can stay there until her next hearing, but she must wear a GPS ankle monitor and stay away from children that are not hers.
It's a move that angered family members of the toddlers.
“They want to let her out and say it is OK as long as she is not around anybody else’s kids. No, that is not going to bring them back,” said Laquita Strong, the toddlers' aunt.
“We just got slapped in the face, and it is like a wound reopened. It hurts,” said Nelson Strong. “You have the evidence, so why did she get to be free? The boys are gone. They are never coming back. Their mom is taking this so hard. That is a tragedy for her and everybody in the family. So, it seems like she gets to go on with her life, while we have to put pieces back together in ours.”
Page is back in court on July 18.
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