Inset: Raymond Carmona (Tarrant County Corrections Center). Background: The Casey's gas station where Carmona was arrested in Christian County, Mo. (Missouri Highway Patrol).
A Texas man is behind bars after killing his own mother and fleeing the state with her grandchild, according to police in the Lone Star State.
Raymond Isaac Carmona, 20, stands accused of one count each of murder, kidnapping, and theft of property greater than $2,500 but less than $30,000 in connection with the death of 63-year-old Andrea Colgrove, according to Tarrant County jail records.
The underlying incident occurred last month at a residence on Cotton Drive in Mansfield, a medium-sized suburban city located some 20 miles southeast of Fort Worth and part of the broader Metroplex.
Late in the morning on Jan. 31, police responded to the residence after a family member found Colgrove on the floor and unresponsive, according to the Mansfield Police Department, Dallas-based Fox affiliate KDFW reported.
Responding officers and emergency medical personnel pronounced the woman dead at the scene of the crime. She was killed by a stab wound to the neck, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner.
Meanwhile, investigators learned Colgrove was the legal guardian of her 4-year-old grandson, who was nowhere to be found. Missing along with the child was a tan-colored 2009 Toyota Corolla, police said.
As the investigation continued, law enforcement identified Carmona, Colgrove's 20-year-old son, as the likely culprit in the woman's slaying, the child's disappearance, and the theft of the vehicle. The child was then entered into state and national databases as a missing person, though his identity has not been released due to his age, police said.
As the days passed, law enforcement believed the vehicle passed several state lines and was finally spotted in Missouri. On Feb. 3, an Amber Alert was issued there — along with the vehicle being entered into Show-Me State databases as stolen.
Soon after that missing child broadcast went out, the Missouri Highway Patrol took note of a Corolla matching the description parked in front of a Casey's gas station in Christian County and found both Carmona and the missing child inside.
In body-worn camera footage of the arrest, troopers pull up behind the car and, weapons drawn, demand the driver show his hands.
"What's your problem, man?" Carmona asks in the video.
To which the trooper replies: "This is an Amber Alert right now, okay?"
In a Facebook post, troopers said the alert went out seven minutes before the eventual arrest of the defendant and recovery of the child.
"The difference between searching and finding," the post reads. "Thanks to License Plate Reader (LPR) technology and tips from citizens, this safe recovery occurred less than 10 minutes of the alert going out."
In the days that followed, Mansfield detectives traveled to Missouri and interviewed Carmona. The defendant eventually admitted to being involved in his mother's death, police allege. On Valentine's Day, he was extradited back to Texas and booked in the Tarrant County Corrections Center on just over $1 million bond.
"This case is a powerful example of law enforcement professionals across state lines working together to protect our communities and diligently serve victims of crime," the Mansfield Police Department said in a statement obtained by CBS News.
The child was later placed in the custody of Child Protective Services. The relationship between the defendant and the little boy was not immediately clarified by law enforcement.
The investigation is said to be ongoing.
Comments