Mom of girls hit by train denies illegal drug use

Also says man asleep in her apartment was not a boyfriend

UPLAND (AP) Jackie Robles denied she took an illegal drug just days
before her two young daughters wandered outside where they were killed by a
Metrolink train, and she said she wasn't alone with the children in her
apartment that day.

Alexes Elaine Robles, 3, and Deziree Andrea Soto, 22 months, died Tuesday
when they walked out of their apartment and onto the nearby train tracks.

The 21yearold single mother, who was arrested after the train accident
and then set free two days later, could still face child endangerment
charges.

During her first public statements about the deaths, Robles acknowledged
that a 20yearold male neighbor was also in the apartment where she nodded
off as her daughters slipped outside.

``But he was asleep,'' she said. ``He didn't know anything about it.''

Jeff Harris, 20, who lives with his family in another unit of the apartment
complex, said later he had ``crashed'' on the floor of Robles' apartment
and didn't wake up until after the girls had been killed.

Robles and her attorney said Harris was not her boyfriend as police contend.

Robles denied she used methamphetamine two days before the deaths, as
alleged in a document by Donna Conway, a social worker with county Child
Protective Services.

Robles said she took a Tylenol with codeine Monday night to ease pain in
her lower back. The drug was prescribed to her after her Caesarean section.

Police said no drugs or alcohol were found in her apartment.

They administered a drug test as a matter of routine, Capt. John
Cannon said.

``They told me the drug test was positive,'' Robles said.

Police wouldn't comment on the case other than to indicate the incident
involved more than a tired mother who fell asleep.

On Friday, Judge John Martin at the San Bernardino County Juvenile Court
granted Robles permission to visit her remaining child, 2monthold
Fernando Soto Jr., until a final decision is made on custody.

He scheduled another hearing for Thursday.

The infant was placed in the protective custody of Robles' aunt, Carman
Ramirez, after his two sisters were killed.