Monica Figueroa: Texas woman charged with capital murder for killing her son Grayson Hurt, 4, in front of her mother
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ATHENS, TEXAS: A Texas mother has been taken into custody after she allegedly admitted to stabbing her 4-year-old son to death in front of her own mother, Mary Johnson. Monica Nicole Figueroa was arrested on Monday, March 13, and has been charged with one count of capital murder of a person under the age of 10. Figueroa was arrested for killing her son Grayson Hurt at their family home.
On Monday, officers of the Athens Police Department, Texas, responded to a call at around 6.41 am from Johnson who requested a wellness check at Figueroa's residence situated in the 300 block of Mitchell Street, according to a press release. The emergency dispatcher was told that Johnson was afraid that Figueroa may have caused harm to her grandson as per Law and Crime report.
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How was Hurt killed?
After first responders arrived at the scene along with emergency medical personnel, they found Figueroa before they entered the home. Hurt's body was discovered "partially covered with a blanket" and was placed inside the door, according to the press release. Authorities immediately requested assistance from Henderson County Crimes Against Children Task Force for the investigation and obtained a search warrant for the home located on Mitchell Street.
Police conducted a preliminary investigation and determined that Hurt was allegedly killed by his mother who used an "edged weapon" to stab him. At present, an autopsy has been scheduled to be done in Dallas by the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Science. According to police, Figueroa admitted to killing Hurt shortly after she was arrested.
What was Figueroa's motive behind killing her son?
Botie Hillhouse, the Henderson County Sheriff said, "She really didn’t give any motive or reasons why," reported CBS 19. He added that the alleged killer's mother explained to the detectives that on Sunday, March 12, she saw Figueroa holding a knife and cutting a rolled-up blanket. Sheriff Hillhouse said, "Johnson heard the child screaming before she observed Figueroa cutting at the blanket and then the screaming stopped," and added, "Figueroa threatened Johnson and instructed her to leave which she did."
Johnson reportedly contacted the authorities the next morning and informed that she called 911 as she discovered her grandson dead. Child Protective Services, the Texas Rangers, and the Henderson County District Attorney's Office are the agencies assisting the ongoing investigation into the 4-year-old boy's murder. "It is still a very fluid investigation, there’s still a lot of moving parts, [we’ve] still got a lot of pieces of the puzzle to put together, but that’s pretty much where we are right now," stated the sheriff.
Figueroa, who is awaiting her arraignment, is currently being held without bond at the Henderson County Jail along with her mother Johnson who was also arrested for child endangerment and is held with a bail of $250,000 bond, according to CBS 19. Figueroa lost custody of her unspecified number of other children and Hurt was her only child at her residence.