Police responding to reports of screaming found four children inside a damaged east Charlotte home with dangerous objects within reach.
CHARLOTTE, NC — Two parents are facing child abuse and assault charges after police responding to a disturbance at an east Charlotte home found four children amid broken glass, damaged furniture, ammunition and other hazards, according to court records and local news reports.
Gabriel Antonio Santos-Funes, 35, and Maria Valladares, 33, were arrested after Charlotte-Mecklenburg police went to a home on Mahogany Drive on the night of Oct. 21. A neighbor had called 911 about loud screaming, burning objects and activity the caller described as “black magic rituals,” according to a criminal affidavit cited by several Charlotte-area news organizations. Authorities have not independently established that any ritual activity occurred, and the description came from the caller who reported the disturbance.
Police arriving at the property heard screaming and saw objects being thrown inside, according to the affidavit. Officers reported finding live and spent .22-caliber ammunition, broken objects and drops of blood near the front porch. Inside, they found Santos-Funes, Valladares and four children, ages 14, 11, 5 and 3. Officers described the home as heavily damaged, with broken glass and sharp objects scattered around and large knives and blowtorch-style lighters accessible to the children.
The affidavit said the adults initially told officers they were cleaning the home and later said other people had entered and caused the damage. Police said Santos-Funes then began behaving erratically, including trying to rub garlic and a Bible on officers. At another point, he allegedly sprayed one of the children with cologne and moved toward a large kitchen knife before officers ordered him away from it. One child told police she was scared and did not feel safe at the house, according to the court document.
The encounter escalated as officers attempted to detain Santos-Funes. Police allege he threw cloves of garlic at an officer and resisted arrest. Valladares allegedly grabbed an officer around the neck and tried to bite an officer during the struggle. Authorities also accuse her of repeatedly spitting at officers and inside a police vehicle after she was taken outside. Santos-Funes is separately accused of taking an officer’s baton and trying to use it against him, and reports citing court records say a firefighter suffered a minor injury during the confrontation.
Both Santos-Funes and Valladares were charged with four counts of misdemeanor child abuse, resisting a public officer and assault on a government official or employee, according to court records cited by local media. Valladares also faces a malicious conduct charge related to allegations that she spit at officers. Santos-Funes faces additional allegations that include assault with a deadly weapon on an officer, common-law robbery, assault causing injury to emergency personnel, discharging a firearm in the city, assault on a female and a misdemeanor domestic violence offense. The charges are accusations, and neither defendant has been found guilty.
The affidavit also said Valladares had visible bruising when officers arrived. A 911 caller had reported concern that she might have been abused, but authorities have not publicly released a full account of how she was injured. The reported condition of the home, the presence of dangerous objects and the statements from one of the children formed part of the allegations underlying the child abuse charges.
Neighbors told local television stations that the normally quiet area had experienced unusual activity around the house in recent months. One neighbor told WSOC-TV that furniture had sometimes been left outside and that people frequently gathered around the property. Another neighbor interviewed by WBTV said the family had appeared to care for the children and that the allegations came as a shock. Those accounts describe neighbors’ observations and do not establish what happened inside the home before police arrived.
Local reports differed on some details of what happened to the children immediately after the arrests. WSOC-TV reported that two of the older children remained at the residence with adult family members or guardians. Authorities have not publicly released a complete account of the children’s current placement, and their identities have not been made public. No reliable report reviewed for this story established that any of the four children suffered a physical injury during the incident.
Jail records cited by WBTV and other outlets showed that both Santos-Funes and Valladares were being held at the Mecklenburg County jail and were subject to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainers. Court records cited in subsequent reporting indicated that additional proceedings were expected in November. The criminal cases remain pending, and further details about the investigation and the children’s status have not been publicly released.
Author note: Last updated October 25, 2026.