CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Jaylah Ramirez said her family became worried when her cousin's partner Juan Castro wasn't answering calls or text.
They were concerned because he had his two small children -- 4-month-old baby Ailani and 1-year-old infant Isreal -- at home with him.
So Ramirez, along with Castro's mother, went to his his apartment at the Oso Bay apartment complex on McArdle Road.
She was one of the first people on the scene, she says, and recalls the exact moments that led up to the family's discovery that 4-month-old Ailani was found.
When they arrived, they knocked on the apartment door with no answer from Castro. That's when Ramirez said Castro's mother asked about alternate ways into the home.
"She said '¿Cómo puedo abrir esto?' like 'How can I get in?' and I was like, 'I know how. Let me show you,' " Ramirez said.
That's when she says they pried open a bedroom window and moved the headboard of a bed out of the way to let themselves in.
Once in, they heard Isreal crying loudly inside.
"So, my instincts were telling were telling me that if Israel's crying, something's wrong with him," Ramirez said. "But it was the other way around. It was, 'Why isn't Ailani crying? It's why isn't she crying? Is something wrong with her?"
The 4-month-old was found unconscious.
Isreal was taken to the hospital to be checked out, Ramirez said, and was found to be dehydrated. She said he will be OK.
Baby Ailani died from causes that have not yet been revealed.
Ramirez came to the 3NEWS studios with Ailani's mother, Priscilla Castillo, and Castillo's mother, Leticia Gomez.
A temporary protective order prevented Castillo from going to the apartment and checking on her children herself, she said.
"We keep thinking 'if's,' but 'ifs' isn't going to fix the situation," she said. "Why did I give them a father like Juan?"
The family tells 3NEWS they feel like this could have been avoided if Child Protective Services had stepped in sooner.
Corpus Christi Police Department officers had been to the apartment a day before Ailani's death to do a welfare check, and the children were said to be okay.
"Why didn't the cops do anything?" said Ailani and Isreal's mother Pricila Castillo said. "I told y'all. I told y'all, since I got out of jail. Take the kids from him! Y'all didn't do anything!"
3NEWS did reach out to the Nueces County District Attorney's office in order to find out who Castro's lawyer is to get comment. While he has been assigned one, that info is not yet been released, they said.
A BBQ benefit for baby Ailani will be held this weekend: Money raised there and through an online fundraiser will go to help the family with funeral costs, and to buy Ailani a headstone.
Funeral arrangements have also been made at Funeraria Del Angel for this weekend.
Digital director Ana Tamez contributed to this story.