In a case that has sent shockwaves through a Pennsylvania community, a woman and her alleged accomplice are accused of orchestrating a deadly plot that led to the murder of her 71-year-old mother. The motive? A dispute over the custody of her special-needs son.

Melissa Fox-Beacom, aged 51, and Matthew Jason Bates, 20, are currently on trial for the tragic death of Alice Robson in St. Clair Township, a suburb of Pittsburgh. Both face serious charges, including homicide, conspiracy, and solicitation. Prosecutors assert that Bates supplied the firearm used by 18-year-old Robert Patrick Jack, the alleged shooter. During the trial’s opening statements, as reported by local CBS affiliate KDKA, it was revealed that Fox-Beacom purportedly instructed Jack to carry out the murder.

Fox-Beacom allegedly referred to her mother in derogatory terms, telling Jack, “We need you to put a fat cow down,” highlighting the disturbing nature of the case.

The victim, Robson, served as the full-time caregiver for Fox-Beacom’s son, who requires constant care due to his special needs. The mother and daughter had been embroiled in a heated custody battle over the boy. According to allegations, Fox-Beacom enlisted the help of Bates, her daughter’s boyfriend at the time, and Jack to execute the murder plot on December 11, 2023.

Jack is accused of shooting Robson twice in the head, while Bates allegedly assisted in concealing her body in a crawl space beneath Robson’s home.

As the trial proceeds, Bates is expected to testify against Fox-Beacom and Jack. Despite his cooperation, prosecutors have made it clear that Bates will still face justice for his role in the crime.

Fox-Beacom’s attorney told jurors that his client was no murderer.

“The case is already solved,” defense attorney Timothy Dawson reportedly said during opening statements. “They have the killer. He’s the star witness for the Commonwealth. They’re trying to bring our clients in. They didn’t shoot Alice Robson.”

As Law&Crime previously reported, the Westmoreland County Prosecutor’s Office said in a news release that the principal at a school in the local district called the St. Clair Township Police Department on Dec. 13, 2023, after home health care workers found the special needs boy at home alone and Robson nowhere to be found. Police contacted Westmoreland County detectives who later determined Robson had been missing for two days.

On Dec. 14, 2023, cops and the Greensburg Fire Department’s bloodhound team responded to Robson’s home on Furnace Lane in St. Clair Township to search for her. The dogs alerted authorities to an unfinished crawl space beneath the rear porch of the home. Cops found Robson’s body there, concealed by a panel and covered by debris, prosecutors said. She had been shot twice in the head.

Detectives searched the home, where they found bloodstains in the living room. They later learned Bates was at Robson’s home the night of she went missing. Bates told investigators Fox-Beacom brought him to the home to fix a car.

Fox-Beacom had asked Bates to kill Robson on “multiple occasions,” including that evening, he allegedly told detectives. Bates and Fox-Beacom left Robson’s home and he returned with Jack.

“Detectives were told the two entered the home, two shots were fired at Robson’s head, killing her,” the news release said.

Bates and Jack then moved her body under the crawl space and tried to clean up the mess in the house, prosecutors allege.