Inset: Raymond Carmona (Tarrant County Corrections Center). Background: The Casey”s gas station where Carmona was arrested in Christian County, Mo. (Missouri Highway Patrol).
A Texas resident has been apprehended after allegedly taking his mother’s life and escaping with her grandchild, Texas authorities reported.
Raymond Isaac Carmona, aged 20, faces charges of murder, kidnapping, and theft involving property valued over $2,500 but under $30,000, following the death of 63-year-old Andrea Colgrove, as detailed in Tarrant County jail records.
The tragic event unfolded last month in a home on Cotton Drive in Mansfield, a suburban area roughly 20 miles southeast of Fort Worth, nestled within the Metroplex region.
On the morning of January 31, law enforcement was summoned to the residence when a family member discovered Colgrove unconscious on the floor, according to a report from the Mansfield Police Department, as covered by Fox affiliate KDFW in Dallas.
Upon arrival, officers and medical responders pronounced the woman dead at the location. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner revealed that a stab wound to the neck was the cause of death.
During their investigation, authorities discovered that Colgrove was the legal guardian of her 4-year-old grandson, who was missing. Also absent was a tan 2009 Toyota Corolla, the police noted.
As the investigation continued, law enforcement identified Carmona, Colgrove’s 20-year-old son, as the likely culprit in the woman’s slaying, the child’s disappearance, and the theft of the vehicle. The child was then entered into state and national databases as a missing person, though his identity has not been released due to his age, police said.
As the days passed, law enforcement believed the vehicle passed several state lines and was finally spotted in Missouri. On Feb. 3, an Amber Alert was issued there — along with the vehicle being entered into Show-Me State databases as stolen.
Soon after that missing child broadcast went out, the Missouri Highway Patrol took note of a Corolla matching the description parked in front of a Casey’s gas station in Christian County and found both Carmona and the missing child inside.
In body-worn camera footage of the arrest, troopers pull up behind the car and, weapons drawn, demand the driver show his hands.
“What’s your problem, man?” Carmona asks in the video.
To which the trooper replies: “This is an Amber Alert right now, okay?”
In a Facebook post, troopers said the alert went out seven minutes before the eventual arrest of the defendant and recovery of the child.
“The difference between searching and finding,” the post reads. “Thanks to License Plate Reader (LPR) technology and tips from citizens, this safe recovery occurred less than 10 minutes of the alert going out.”
In the days that followed, Mansfield detectives traveled to Missouri and interviewed Carmona. The defendant eventually admitted to being involved in his mother’s death, police allege. On Valentine’s Day, he was extradited back to Texas and booked in the Tarrant County Corrections Center on just over $1 million bond.
“This case is a powerful example of law enforcement professionals across state lines working together to protect our communities and diligently serve victims of crime,” the Mansfield Police Department said in a statement obtained by CBS News.
The child was later placed in the custody of Child Protective Services. The relationship between the defendant and the little boy was not immediately clarified by law enforcement.
The investigation is said to be ongoing.
