Inset left: Abigail Molina (Bexar County Adult Detention Center). Inset right: Gilbert Parker (Obituary). Background: The Old Path Baptist Church in China Grove, Tex. (Google Maps).
A Texas woman is accused of beating her boyfriend with a hammer, leaving him unconscious at a church, and then working to get rid of the evidence despite declaring she had "nothing to hide."
Abigail Molina, 32, has been charged with first-degree murder, theft, and tampering or fabricating physical evidence with the intent to impair in the death of 64-year-old Gilbert Parker, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
Molina was arrested on Thursday. Parker's body was discovered on Jan. 18.
On that Sunday, Parker was found at the Old Path Baptist Church in China Grove, a town just east of San Antonio.
The man was unconscious, partially naked, and "covered in what appeared to be dried blood in a tool shed that was fabricated to be his living quarters," according to an affidavit obtained by local ABC affiliate KSAT.
Blood was also reportedly found in the garden shed, and witnesses called emergency first responders and the China Grove Police Department for help. The wounded man was brought to an area hospital — and later transferred to a different one — and though he apparently came in and out of consciousness, he was unable to communicate.
The following day, Molina contacted China Grove police and told officers that "she had nothing to hide and that it was an act of self-defense regarding an altercation that led to Parker's hospitalization," authorities said. It is unclear if police were already trying to get in touch with her.
Parker was declared dead on Jan. 20. An autopsy found that he had lacerations on his head, with one possible blow fracturing his skull bone and causing bleeding within his brain, the court document stated.
As police continued to investigate, they learned that Parker owned a cellphone, wallet, and 2002 Dodge Dakota pickup truck that were missing, KSAT reported. Investigators also claimed that members of the church went into the crime scene and cleaned up blood and other items belonging to Parker, including drug evidence.
Additional details came from an individual who apparently claimed that Parker had been dating Molina but that they "seemed to be in different places in the relationship, and that Parker was more involved and possessive." They had had arguments in the past, the affidavit stated.
The day Parker died, authorities say his pickup truck was spotted near the home of a close friend of Molina. She allegedly attempted to spray-paint and sand the vehicle, had blood stains removed from it at a car wash, and then sold it for $300 in Houston, Texas.
Investigators spoke with Molina, and she "gave vague and scattered details regarding her relationship with Parker," according to the affidavit. She reportedly recounted how she last saw the victim on Jan. 13, at a local smoke shop, where the two fought, though she would not go into detail.
On Feb. 1, someone who said their cousin had dated Molina called a San Antonio Police Department homicide detective and told them that the fight at the smoke shop escalated to Molina killing Parker, the local outlet reported. Another call came in the next day, with this caller telling them the murder weapon was in a stormwater drainage culvert, with investigators ultimately finding it in the form a construction hammer with a claw missing.
This absent claw would have been consistent with Parker's skull injury, the affidavit added.
Law enforcement officers said they interviewed Molina's ex-boyfriend, who told them she called him on Jan. 15, crying and asking for help. She allegedly "described being hit by Parker and 'blacking out,' and hitting him with the hammer repeatedly."
Molina was arrested and booked into jail.
Parker was remembered in his obituary as a "man full of life and music."
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