A Houston man has been arrested on charges of killing his nine-month-old daughter while sexually trying to assault her. The infant, admitted to hospital last week after police received reports of an unresponsive child, died a few hours later.
An investigation revealed that the child was sexually assaulted by her father Luis Luna, 23, who was later arrested on Monday. Harris Country Sheriff Ed Gonzales has described the incident as gruesome and heartbreaking.
Killed for No Reason
The Harris County Sheriff's Office said in a news release that deputies responded to a Houston apartment complex on August 24 after learning about an unresponsive infant. When they arrived, they found the child, Savayah Mason, being treated by EMS personnel. The child was transported to a nearby hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Following the unnatural death, an autopsy was done by a Harris County Institute of Forensics. The report showed that Savayah had been sexually assaulted and died of asphyxiation during the attack. Authorities launched a homicide investigation and interviewed her father Luna, who initially tried to mislead the police by telling several lies to avoid arrest.
Several rounds of questioning finally revealed that Luna had been sexually assaulting his nine-month-old daughter and even tried to kill her by strangulating her. On Monday, police charged Luna with capital murder in connection with his daughter's death. He was taken into custody.
Father or Predator?
It is still not known why Luna wanted to kill his daughter. Also, police are yet to find out the whereabouts of the infant's mother. Harris County Sheriff Gonzales has described the incident as heartbreaking. "Heartbreaking," Sheriff Ed Gonzalez tweeted after the arrest. "Worst type of cases. May this little angel rest in peace. Good job by our investigators and all involved."
Luna is being held at the Harris County Jail and is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday. The incident has left even the police shocked and comes just weeks after another Texas couple was arrested on charges connected to the death of their infant. Deputies in Collin County found their missing three-week-old dead in a tar bucket.
Much like Luna, Roland Grabowski, 42, and Donna Grabowski, 41, too had initially weaved multiple stories and told lies in an attempt to puzzle the detectives during interrogation but finally admitted to their crime. Later, police found the body of their child Micah dumped in a bucket of tar.
