The California couple charged with murder for the deaths of two children whose bodies were found in a rental storage unit turned their backs to reporters in a Salinas courtroom Friday afternoon.
Tami Joy Huntsman, 39, and her boyfriend, 17-year-old Gonzalo Curiel, are accused of killing two children in their care, 6-year-old Shaun Tara and 3-year-old Delylah Tara, and torturing a 9-year-old girl. Curiel is being tried as an adult.
A Monterey County judge accepted a request by the defense to postpone the arraignment, which was scheduled for Friday. The pair faces felony child abuse, torture and mayhem charges.
Officials were first called to the apartment that Hunstman and Curiel shared in Quincy after someone called 911 to report child abuse. Hunstman had temporary custody of three children, all distant relatives.
The Monterey County Sheriff's Department says the 9-year-old was found malnourished and severely beaten. Investigators later discovered the bodies of the other children in a storage locker in Redding.
Investigators believe the younger children died on Nov. 27 while in Huntsman's Salinas home.
Speaking briefly to reporters as he walked out of the courthouse, the defense attorney representing Huntsman and Curiel said the public should "keep an open mind. No further comment."
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Huntsman and Curiel are due back in court Jan. 20.
The 9-year-old girl who was taken from their care underwent surgery. There has been no update on her condition.
The Salinas Police Officers Association has launched a fund to benefit the victims, which officers said "is the worst case of child abuse we've ever seen."
