A mother in the Bronx, accused of trying to raise her teenage sons as “forever babies,” appears to have had a complicated financial situation, with court documents revealing her financial struggles. Lisette Soto Domenech, 64, had no debts a few years ago but suddenly found herself drowning in over $300,000 in debt before her disturbing living conditions were uncovered.
Between 2023 and 2025, she filed for bankruptcy three times, yet somehow managed to post $25,000 in cash bail after being charged with child abuse this week. Her financial troubles seem to mirror her neighbors’ observations of her increasingly isolated life on the sixth floor of an apartment building, which tragically turned into a prison for her twin sons.
One neighbor described her demeanor, saying, “She was like a little witch,” noting that she would quickly shut her door if anyone approached. It was a harrowing picture of her life that emerged reluctantly through a visit by child welfare officials on October 15, which finally led to the discovery of what had been happening behind closed doors after multiple failed attempts to get in.
According to reports, Domenech kept her children in diapers, bottle-feeding them to maintain a semblance of infancy. A neighbor remarked starkly, “She wanted them to remain babies forever and never be lost.”
Another resident who lived below Domenech revealed that he often heard the boys crying and running around at night, coupled with their mother’s screams. Six years prior, he had lodged a complaint that forced her to open the door and speak, revealing children who looked much younger than their actual ages. “I thought it was a baby. It looked very small and thin,” he stated, recalling how everyone thought the boys were younger due to their pale appearances.
Now, at 14 years old, the boys are in foster care after enduring nine years of abuse and starvation, which left them weighing only 50 pounds. Domenech has pleaded not guilty to the charges and was released on bail, raising questions about how she managed to come up with the cash given her reported lack of income.
Court documents indicate Domenech previously filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, listing under $50,000 in credit card debt, but the case was dismissed due to incomplete creditor lists. She later attempted a Chapter 13 filing to help restructure her finances, but once again failed to comply with requirements, leading to another dismissal.
By June of the following year, records showed Domenech owed more than $300,000, having only $50 in cash, and reported no substantial income except for her husband’s earnings as a deli delivery worker and Uber driver. Unfortunately, he recently passed away from cancer.
The debts mainly stemmed from the mortgage on their home and a neighboring apartment where her husband lived. Domenech proposed a repayment plan that was rejected, leading to a judge’s order for foreclosure on their home just months after the children were removed from her care.
Officials noted that the police had visited Domenech’s apartment on two separate occasions following reports of a strange odor. The first visit found nothing, but the police took action after a second report. Even on a recent visit, a faint smell lingered from her closed door, and one neighbor had an air purifier set up outside his apartment.
Domenech has been unreachable for comment, and when approached at her apartment, she claimed that no one by her family name lived there, refusing to open the door.
