Monica Figueroa, Athens, Texas woman stabs 4 yr old son to death as grandmother who witnessed attack is also now arrested.
An Athens, Texas woman has been accused of stabbing to death her 4 year old son in front of her own mother over the weekend.
Monica Nicole Figueroa, 43, was arrested and charged with capital murder in connection with the death of Grayson Hurt according to an Athens, Texas police department Facebook release.
According to the release, Athens police officers responded to a call from a Henderson County residence in the 300 block of Mitchell Street in the early hours of Monday morning. The caller, Figueroa’s mother, Mary Johnson, requesting a welfare check, said she feared Figueroa had hurt the boy. When officers arrived, they found the boy dead and partially covered with a blanket inside the residence.
An initial investigation found that the boy had been killed by an edged weapon, but a full autopsy has been ordered. According to an arrest affidavit, after being read her Miranda Rights, Figueroa spoke with an investigator and allegedly confessed to killing her son.
Sheriff Botie Hillhouse speaking to KYTX said that Figueroa’s mother told investigators that on Sunday afternoon she saw her daughter holding a wooden-handled knife and cutting at what appeared to be a rolled-up blanket.
No known motive as grandmother is also now arrested
‘Johnson heard the child screaming before she observed Figueroa cutting at the blanket and then the screaming stopped,’ Sheriff Hillhouse told the station. ‘Figueroa threatened Johnson and instructed her to leave which she did.’
When Johnson returned the next morning, she reportedly told authorities that she found her grandson deceased and called 911.
Figueroa is currently held without bail at the Henderson County Jail as she awaits arraignment. Hillhouse said the investigation is ongoing.
Come Tuesday, a follow up report told of the suspect’s mother also being arrested after new details were unearthed during investigations. It remained unclear what charges the grandmother now faced.
Judge McKee issued an arrest warrant for the grandmother, charging Johnson with endangering a child and placing a preset bail amount on the warrant of $250,000.
‘We chose endangering a child charge because it does carry a stiffer punishment than failure to report a felony,’ Sheriff Botie Hillhouse said. ‘And really, when you look at the law and the way the law’s written, that’s exactly what she did.’
Authorities have yet to say what may have led to the mother stabbing her own son to death.
