Details emerge in case of woman accused of killing mom, taking baby
HOUSTON -- A Houston woman accused of killing a mother and kidnapping her six-week-old baby told investigators the victim was already dead when she arrived at the home Tuesday, reports CBS affiliate KHOU, citing prosecutors' statements in court.
The murder suspect, 28-year-old Erika Miranda-Alvarez, had recently been pregnant and was due to give birth in January, but lost the baby, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said. Miranda-Alvarez told investigators "she did not want to disappoint her boyfriend because she had lost her baby," according to a prosecutor.
Acevedo says Miranda-Alvarez hid her miscarriage from family members and was claiming that she had just returned this week from the hospital with the infant after giving birth.
Police launched a search for the missing baby, Shamali Flores, after her mother Carolina Flores, 33, was found fatally stabbed in a Houston home Tuesday. Acevedo wouldn't reveal what led investigators to identify Miranda-Alvarez, a friend of the victim's brother, as a suspect. But he said his department's investigation led them to a southwest Houston apartment complex around midnight Wednesday, where officers saw the suspect and her boyfriend with Shamali, who was unharmed.
Prosecutors said in court Thursday night that Miranda-Alvarez denied killing Carolina Flores to investigators, but admitted abducting the child. She reportedly said she went to the victim's apartment, saw the front door open and the victim lying dead on her bedroom floor before she took the baby and left.
The suspect's boyfriend has not been charged and Acevedo says it appears he wasn't aware of the miscarriage.
When investigators arrested Miranda-Alvarez, they reportedly found hospital wristbands in her pocket, one with the name of the victim and the other with the infant's birth date.
Investigators say they found a pair of scissors on Flores' body, but they don't know if it's the murder weapon, KHOU reports.
Miranda-Alvarez was being held in a medical unit and didn't appear for the probable cause hearing Thursday night, the station reports. She was ordered held without bond on a capital murder charge and was due to return to court next Wednesday.