Inset: Wilma Jamitza Medina (Bexar County Sheriff’s Office). Background: The location in Texas where Medina allegedly murdered her 9-year-old son (Google Maps).
A 50-year-old mother in Texas is charged with fatally stabbing her 9-year-old son in the neck and chest while he was asleep in his bed. Wilma Jamitza Medina was arrested on Wednesday and charged with capital murder of a person under 10 years old in the death of David Ogbevbon Ehanire-Medina, officials stated.
The Universal City Police Department’s preliminary news release indicated that officers responded around 5 a.m. on Sept. 3 to a residence on the 8200 block of Zodiac Drive, located near San Antonio.
When officers arrived at the scene, they were met by the caller, who directed them to the boy suffering from several stab injuries. Police and emergency responders initiated life-saving measures and transported the boy to the hospital. He succumbed to his injuries shortly after arriving.
Authorities initially provided minimal details, saying only that it was “an isolated incident” and a 50-year-old woman had been detained, until a Thursday afternoon news conference and court documents were released.
“I don’t think that anything could have prepared our first responders of the city for what they saw. It was devastating, and it was very, very, very rough on them,” Detective Sergeant David Faust commented to reporters. “They discovered a father trying to prevent the mother from reaching the child after she allegedly stabbed him several times.”
Police Chief Johnny Siemens also spoke to the heinous nature of the crime.
“Crimes like this shock your conscience, rock you to your core,” he said. “You can’t unsee some of the stuff that you see, and you can’t understand why it would happen.”
Police said they found the father holding onto the legs of his wife, whose shirt was covered in blood, San Antonio ABC affiliate KSAT reported, citing the arrest warrant. The boy was unresponsive in his bed with visible stab wounds on both sides of his neck, police said.
As authorities were attempting to secure the scene, Medina was reportedly somehow able to get hold of a knife and stab herself in the leg. Officers converged on Medina, who allegedly kept yelling, “I cannot live without him” and “let me die” during the struggle for the weapon.
The father, who was identified as an officer with the China Grove, Texas, Police Department, allegedly told investigators that shortly after arriving home from working the night shift, he heard a scream coming from his son’s room. The door was locked, so he forced it open and found his son’s bloody, lifeless body being held by Medina with one arm, police said. In her other hand, Medina had a knife, which she reportedly used to stab herself in the chest.
As the father struggled with Medina for the knife, she allegedly told him, “This is what you want.”
After authorities transported her to the hospital, Medina spoke to investigators, saying she believed she was being “followed” and claiming there were people on her roof attempting to get in the house, San Antonio Express-News reported, also citing the arrest warrant. She also reportedly stated that she believed her son was being hurt when he went to school, saying, “There’s no going back.”
Authorities allege that in a subsequent call with family members, Medina referred to herself as “trash” in Spanish and said she was ashamed of what she had done.
Medina has been booked into the Bexar County Jail, where she is being held on $600,000 bond, records show. It was not immediately clear when she would appear in court again.
