The Ramsey County Medical Examiner's Office has positively identified the victim of the suspicious death as 20-month-old Jose Lazarus Zamora, of Moorhead. The preliminary autopsy indicated the child’s manner of death was homicide.
As a result of the ongoing investigation, the child’s mother, 32-year-old Valerie Connie Zamora of Moorhead, was arrested in Fargo and taken to the Cass County Jail where she will be held until she can be extradited back to Moorhead. She will be charged via long form complaint from the Clay County Attorney’s office for 2nd Degree Murder.
The Moorhead Police Department was assisted by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Clay County Attorney's Office, Clay County Sheriff's Office and the Fargo Police Department. The investigation is ongoing and there is no other information to release at this time.
MPD Case 25011277
Lieutenant Mike Detloff
