Dead Baby Found on Side of Road
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
How could someone leave a dead child by the side of the road?
Ugly story from Galveston, Texas, where a dead baby was alongside a road, not far from his car seat. (A couple that was birdwatching found his body -- they initially mistook him for a doll.) The child died from blunt force trauma to his head. Police are now searching for the 3-month-old's missing dad, Travis Mullis, who is 21.
A makeshift memorial is seen next to the outline police made where the body of a baby boy was found Tuesday in an isolated area in Galveston, Texas. The body was found on the side of the road next to the car seat of the baby, who was killed by head injuries before his body was dumped in Galveston, according to autopsy results released Wednesday.
Police: Woman no longer cooperating in investigation of dead baby
A young woman who said she's the mother of a 3-month-old found dead in Galveston this week is no longer cooperating with authorities.
Police believe the woman has hired an attorney.
Meanwhile, the search for a "person of interest" in the baby's death continues.
Police have few leads in the search for Travis Mullis, who may be the father of the baby found dead.
"I don't think we're getting a lot. I wouldn't categorize it as a lot," Lt. Jorge Trevino said.
Police believe Mullis may know more about the baby who was killed, then dumped – still in his car seat – along a lonely road on Galveston's East End.
Mullis reportedly worked at a Walgreens in Houston.
Police believe he left his Alvin home Tuesday morning with the baby and hasn't been heard from since.
"I don't know why we're not getting any leads," Trevino said.
The baby's murder has shocked the entire community, including Bob Adams.
Adams wrote a poem for the child called "Little Boy Blue."
Police are not calling Mullis a suspect – only a person of interest. They say he is known to hang out in Galveston and Baytown. Baytown police have been alerted to be on the lookout for the 21-year-old.
But even though he's not a suspect, authorities think he can tell them more about how a baby ended up dead in the middle of nowhere.
Police said Mullis was last seen driving a silver, four-door, 2002 Hyundai Accent with duct tape on the rear passenger side door handle and Texas license plate 067-RJP.
An autopsy on Wednesday determined that the baby's death was a homicide caused by blunt force head trauma.
The baby's mother said she suspected something was wrong.
Police say that the night before the baby was found Mullis and the baby's mother argued.
The child's mother told authorities that she was not concerned when Mullis left with the baby because he said he was going to have his car worked on. She said she became concerned when she couldn't get a hold of Mullis.
That's when the Alvin mother starting calling local hospitals seeking her child and the boy's father. Those calls eventually led to the Galveston Police Department as reports of a boy's body being found near the island's Seawall surfaced.
The mother identified a photo of the dead child as her son, but police were waiting for a medical examiner's report to confirm the dead child's identity.
Galveston detectives were at the mother's trailer home in Alvin searching for clues in the case Tuesday night.
Police suspect the person who threw the child from the car is a man because of the distance the child was thrown.
Scott Pena, with the Galveston Police Department Crime Scene Unit, inspects a car seat found near the body of an infant in Galveston, Texas on Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2008. A couple who had been sightseeing in Galveston thought they came upon a doll, then realized it was the body of a baby. (AP Photo/The Daily News, Jennifer Reynolds)
A couple who found the infant's body on Galveston's far East End say they were shaken and disturbed by the unsettling discovery and were attempting to push it from their minds.
They were looking for birds and coyotes while driving just north of the Seawall between the entrance to East Beach and Ferry Road.
"I saw some legs and feet, and said, 'What is this? A doll?'" said the Jesse Zaro Jr., a Galveston County jail employee who was with his wife Esmeralda. "I didn't say anything to my wife but, 'Wait here.' I opened the door and realized it was a baby. I just fell to pieces. We were looking to find something beautiful."
The couple called 911, and police immediately cordoned off the scene and began photographing and shooting video of the area.
Police have found other bodies in the isolated area by the Seawall, but none in recent memory on Cherry Hill, Trevino said.
Police: Dad Surrenders, Charged In Baby's Death
POSTED: 10:30 pm CST February 1, 2008
UPDATED: 12:54 pm CST February 2, 2008
GALVESTON, Texas -- The father of a slain baby found dumped on the side of a Galveston road surrendered and confessed in Philadelphia Friday, and was charged with capital murder, officials told KPRC Local 2.
Police said they believe Travis "T.J." Mullis is the father of a 3-month-old boy found dead near a utility pole on Seawall Boulevard near Ferry Road on Tuesday
Police held a news conference Friday night and said Mullis confessed to killing the baby by stomping on the boy's head with his foot three to four times.
"Travis Mullis stated that he intentionally killed 3-month-old Alijah Mullis in Galveston on Jan. 29, 2008," said Lt. Jorge Trevino with the Galveston Police Department.
Mullis is being held on a $1 million bond on the capital murder charge.
Galveston County Criminal District Attorney Kurt Sistrunk said the extradition process to return Mullis to Texas will begin Monday.
Mullis had family in Maryland and traveled to Philadelphia from there, stopping at churches along the way, officials said.
"He would stop at a church, tell them a sad story and he would get money from a church," an investigator said. "He walked into the station, said he wanted to talk about something and turned himself in."
Police did not elaborate on a possible motive.
"There are no other suspects," Trevino said.
Mullis was charged with a felony related to a girl in a separate case. He is accused of enticing a child, which is intentionally taking a child from a parent without the parent knowing, with the intent to commit a felony.
Investigators said a child who lived with Mullis in Alvin made that claim. The allegation surfaced while police were investigating the death of the 3-month-old.
Officials said Mullis might have tried to have a sexual encounter with an 8-year-old girl the same day the baby was found.
According to the Brazoria County District Attorney's Office, the 8-year-old who Mullis lived with claimed that while everyone in the house was asleep, Mullis took her to a school playground in an attempt to commit a sexual assault.
Investigators said he asked the girl to take off her pants and then tried to remove them himself.
"At that point, she was very firm and said, 'No. Take me back home,' or something along that line. And everything stopped," said Chief Mike Merkel with the Alvin Police Department.
The woman believed to be the mother identified the deceased baby in a photo as her son, police said. Footprint records obtained from a hospital have not helped positively identify the boy, so officials are awaiting DNA results, investigators said.
Detectives said the possible mother's role has changed in their investigation. Police said she initially cooperated, but has since hired an attorney.
"She was still cooperating up until recently," Trevino said. "One of the investigators told me that she's not as cooperative."
Investigators said the woman and Mullis argued the night before the baby's body was found. Police said they did not know if the argument played a role in the baby's death.
Mullis left at about 5 a.m. Tuesday to get a car repaired, police said. A couple discovered the baby's body and a car seat about four hours later.
The baby is the second child to be found dead in the area in the past few months. A fisherman discovered the body of a young girl in a plastic box floating in Galveston Bay in October. Detectives named her "Baby Grace" until they learned her true identity, Riley Ann Sawyers.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
How could someone leave a dead child by the side of the road?
Ugly story from Galveston, Texas, where a dead baby was alongside a road, not far from his car seat. (A couple that was birdwatching found his body -- they initially mistook him for a doll.) The child died from blunt force trauma to his head. Police are now searching for the 3-month-old's missing dad, Travis Mullis, who is 21.
A makeshift memorial is seen next to the outline police made where the body of a baby boy was found Tuesday in an isolated area in Galveston, Texas. The body was found on the side of the road next to the car seat of the baby, who was killed by head injuries before his body was dumped in Galveston, according to autopsy results released Wednesday.
Police: Woman no longer cooperating in investigation of dead baby
A young woman who said she's the mother of a 3-month-old found dead in Galveston this week is no longer cooperating with authorities.
Police believe the woman has hired an attorney.
Meanwhile, the search for a "person of interest" in the baby's death continues.
Police have few leads in the search for Travis Mullis, who may be the father of the baby found dead.
"I don't think we're getting a lot. I wouldn't categorize it as a lot," Lt. Jorge Trevino said.
Police believe Mullis may know more about the baby who was killed, then dumped – still in his car seat – along a lonely road on Galveston's East End.
Mullis reportedly worked at a Walgreens in Houston.
Police believe he left his Alvin home Tuesday morning with the baby and hasn't been heard from since.
"I don't know why we're not getting any leads," Trevino said.
The baby's murder has shocked the entire community, including Bob Adams.
Adams wrote a poem for the child called "Little Boy Blue."
Police are not calling Mullis a suspect – only a person of interest. They say he is known to hang out in Galveston and Baytown. Baytown police have been alerted to be on the lookout for the 21-year-old.
But even though he's not a suspect, authorities think he can tell them more about how a baby ended up dead in the middle of nowhere.
Police said Mullis was last seen driving a silver, four-door, 2002 Hyundai Accent with duct tape on the rear passenger side door handle and Texas license plate 067-RJP.
An autopsy on Wednesday determined that the baby's death was a homicide caused by blunt force head trauma.
The baby's mother said she suspected something was wrong.
Police say that the night before the baby was found Mullis and the baby's mother argued.
The child's mother told authorities that she was not concerned when Mullis left with the baby because he said he was going to have his car worked on. She said she became concerned when she couldn't get a hold of Mullis.
That's when the Alvin mother starting calling local hospitals seeking her child and the boy's father. Those calls eventually led to the Galveston Police Department as reports of a boy's body being found near the island's Seawall surfaced.
The mother identified a photo of the dead child as her son, but police were waiting for a medical examiner's report to confirm the dead child's identity.
Galveston detectives were at the mother's trailer home in Alvin searching for clues in the case Tuesday night.
Police suspect the person who threw the child from the car is a man because of the distance the child was thrown.
Scott Pena, with the Galveston Police Department Crime Scene Unit, inspects a car seat found near the body of an infant in Galveston, Texas on Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2008. A couple who had been sightseeing in Galveston thought they came upon a doll, then realized it was the body of a baby. (AP Photo/The Daily News, Jennifer Reynolds)
A couple who found the infant's body on Galveston's far East End say they were shaken and disturbed by the unsettling discovery and were attempting to push it from their minds.
They were looking for birds and coyotes while driving just north of the Seawall between the entrance to East Beach and Ferry Road.
"I saw some legs and feet, and said, 'What is this? A doll?'" said the Jesse Zaro Jr., a Galveston County jail employee who was with his wife Esmeralda. "I didn't say anything to my wife but, 'Wait here.' I opened the door and realized it was a baby. I just fell to pieces. We were looking to find something beautiful."
The couple called 911, and police immediately cordoned off the scene and began photographing and shooting video of the area.
Police have found other bodies in the isolated area by the Seawall, but none in recent memory on Cherry Hill, Trevino said.
Police: Dad Surrenders, Charged In Baby's Death
POSTED: 10:30 pm CST February 1, 2008
UPDATED: 12:54 pm CST February 2, 2008
GALVESTON, Texas -- The father of a slain baby found dumped on the side of a Galveston road surrendered and confessed in Philadelphia Friday, and was charged with capital murder, officials told KPRC Local 2.
Police said they believe Travis "T.J." Mullis is the father of a 3-month-old boy found dead near a utility pole on Seawall Boulevard near Ferry Road on Tuesday
Police held a news conference Friday night and said Mullis confessed to killing the baby by stomping on the boy's head with his foot three to four times.
"Travis Mullis stated that he intentionally killed 3-month-old Alijah Mullis in Galveston on Jan. 29, 2008," said Lt. Jorge Trevino with the Galveston Police Department.
Mullis is being held on a $1 million bond on the capital murder charge.
Galveston County Criminal District Attorney Kurt Sistrunk said the extradition process to return Mullis to Texas will begin Monday.
Mullis had family in Maryland and traveled to Philadelphia from there, stopping at churches along the way, officials said.
"He would stop at a church, tell them a sad story and he would get money from a church," an investigator said. "He walked into the station, said he wanted to talk about something and turned himself in."
Police did not elaborate on a possible motive.
"There are no other suspects," Trevino said.
Mullis was charged with a felony related to a girl in a separate case. He is accused of enticing a child, which is intentionally taking a child from a parent without the parent knowing, with the intent to commit a felony.
Investigators said a child who lived with Mullis in Alvin made that claim. The allegation surfaced while police were investigating the death of the 3-month-old.
Officials said Mullis might have tried to have a sexual encounter with an 8-year-old girl the same day the baby was found.
According to the Brazoria County District Attorney's Office, the 8-year-old who Mullis lived with claimed that while everyone in the house was asleep, Mullis took her to a school playground in an attempt to commit a sexual assault.
Investigators said he asked the girl to take off her pants and then tried to remove them himself.
"At that point, she was very firm and said, 'No. Take me back home,' or something along that line. And everything stopped," said Chief Mike Merkel with the Alvin Police Department.
The woman believed to be the mother identified the deceased baby in a photo as her son, police said. Footprint records obtained from a hospital have not helped positively identify the boy, so officials are awaiting DNA results, investigators said.
Detectives said the possible mother's role has changed in their investigation. Police said she initially cooperated, but has since hired an attorney.
"She was still cooperating up until recently," Trevino said. "One of the investigators told me that she's not as cooperative."
Investigators said the woman and Mullis argued the night before the baby's body was found. Police said they did not know if the argument played a role in the baby's death.
Mullis left at about 5 a.m. Tuesday to get a car repaired, police said. A couple discovered the baby's body and a car seat about four hours later.
The baby is the second child to be found dead in the area in the past few months. A fisherman discovered the body of a young girl in a plastic box floating in Galveston Bay in October. Detectives named her "Baby Grace" until they learned her true identity, Riley Ann Sawyers.
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