A Texas toddler was found dead in a stolen SUV after the baby’s father was shot to death hours earlier, authorities said.
The suspect in the death was captured on surveillance video near where the shooting took place. Police he said in an update Wednesday that a 38-year-old manis is in custody and faces charges of murder and tampering with evidence. The suspect is awaiting charges in court, police said.
The incident began when Houston police received a call for a shooting outside a supermarket on Tuesday afternoon, Houston Police Deputy Chief Larry Satterwhite told reporters. Officers arrived and found a 38-year-old man shot to death.
Satterwhite said investigators believe the victim was meeting someone when an argument broke out. A suspect shot the victim several times before stealing his SUV.
Less than five hours later, a woman called police to say her husband and 2-year-old son were missing. As the woman described to her husband, police realized she was the victim killed in the shooting.
“We never heard from the boy until he called,” Satterwhite said.
Police began searching for the SUV, and found it 30 minutes later about 10 miles from the crime scene with the child in the back seat. Lifesaving measures were carried out but the child was pronounced dead.
“Unfortunately, it was too late,” Satterwhite said. “We don’t know why or how or what the cause of death will be. It could be something like heat exhaustion. We just don’t know. That will be determined later through the autopsy.”
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Authorities believe the suspect parked the car and locked it before leaving it at the scene.
Satterwhite said “it’s the hardest thing to do” when dealing with child deaths and offered his condolences to the mother.
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