Texas Woman Charged In Murder Of Fiancé's 2-Year-Old Daughter

By myfoxdfw.com, myfoxdfw.com

Published January 02, 2017

Plano, Texas authorities said Tuesday that they've made an arrest in the recent death of a 2-year-old girl.

Melinda Lynn Muniz, 25, has been charged with capital murder in the death of Grace Lillian Ford, police say. Muniz is reportedly the fiancé of Ford's father, Mitch.

Police say Muniz tried to get away with Ford's death by staging the crime scene to look like a home invasion and sexual assault.

Police said they got a welfare concern call from the girl's father on Jan. 9 about 1:40 p.m. Mitch told them he got a call from her and heard screaming in the background.

Police arrived and found Muniz, who appeared to be unconscious.

Ford was in another room, unresponsive. She was found face down with no pants on and with her mouth duct-taped.

Ford was transported to a local hospital for treatment, where she died three days later.

Police say Muniz claimed that someone broke in and sexually assaulted her before she blacked out.

Police say a motive is still unclear, but they say there is overwhelming evidence that not only disproves Ford's death stemmed from a home invasion, and proves Muniz is the one who killed Ford.

Police say from the beginning they were suspicious of Muniz's story. They say they conducted numerous interviews and collected lots of evidence.

One of the key pieces in the police's investigation is store surveillance video, where Muniz is seen buying duct tape, as well as other items used to stage the crime scene. Police say that video was recorded about 40 minutes prior to them being called to the apartment.

Muniz even took the little girl with her to the store where she made the purchases.

Muniz's bond is set at $1 million.

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https://www.foxnews.com/world/texas-woman-charged-in-murder-of-fiances-2-year-old-daughter

Texas Woman Charged In Murder Of Fiancé's 2-Year-Old Daughter

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