A Texas mom was charged with fatally stabbing her 4-year-old son in front of the boy’s grandmother, who has also been charged in connection with the death.
Monica Figueroa has been charged with capital murder for the death of 4-year-old Grayson Hurt. Her mother, Mary Johnson, has been accused of endangering a child, local news station CBS 19 reported.
The Athens Police Department said Johnson called authorities to her daughter’s Mitchell Street home around 6:40 a.m. on Monday, March 13, and told police she feared her daughter had harmed Grayson.
Police arrived at 312 Mitchell Street in Athens, Texas, to find Grayson’s body “inside the door, partially covered with a blanket,” officials said.
While working through the crime scene and conducting interviews, Henderson County Sheriff Botie Hillhouse said investigators then learned the child had been dead for hours, according to CBS 19. They learned Grayson was killed on Sunday, March 12, mid-afternoon.
Johnson allegedly told police she saw her daughter on top of a blanket that had been rolled up and stabbing the fabric using a wood-handled knife.
“Johnson heard the child screaming before she observed Figueroa cutting at the blanket and then the screaming stopped,” Hillhouse said, according to the report.
But Johnson allegedly left after her daughter threatened her. She reportedly called police when she returned the next day.
Grayson appeared to have died from injuries caused by an “edged weapon,” police said. Details regarding the results of an autopsy examination have not yet been released.
Henderson County Sheriff Botie Hillhouse says Figueroa confessed to killing her son when she was being questioned and is currently awaiting arraignment at the Henderson County Jail.
Sheriff Hillhouse also says Figueroa only had one child in her home as she doesn’t have custody of her other children.
Figueroa was ordered held on $2 million surety bond, records show. Her mother was ordered held on $250,000 bond.
