A woman in North Carolina is facing murder charges in Maryland after an officer found her holding the lifeless body of her son.
Police in Belair, Maryland claim that a Harford County Sheriff’s Deputy was driving early Sunday morning when he saw a woman, identified as Gloria Elena Hughes, 37, standing in the street holding a lifeless child.
The officer pulled over and immediately called for assistance. He was rushed to the University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Medical Center by Harford County EMS.
The child, Jason Garcia, 3, was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead at 6 a.m.
According to charging documents, Hughes was shown on surveillance video banging her son into the ground several times.
The boy’s father had alerted police in North Carolina Saturday morning due to a custody dispute. He told police that his child and the child’s mother, Gloria Hughes, were headed to Maryland.
That same day, both police and medical staff confirmed that both Hughes and her child checked into the Upper Chesapeake Medical Center. The child had been admitted to the emergency room for a reported ingestion of a boracic acid suppository.
Video surveillance shows the child and mom leaving the hospital on Sunday at 12:15 a.m.
Just hours later, surveillance footage provided by a Self Storage Plus in Bel Air shows the mother beating her 3-year-old son outside the business. Detectives say Hughes can be seen on recording slamming the child and his head against the ground, multiple times. The child then did not move for reportedly over an hour.
Medical staff who examined the child said he had some sort of road rash on his face and a large skull fracture, ultimately leading to his death.
During her bail review, Hughes sounded confused. She could not tell the judge what day it was or why she was even there.
Hughes is charged with first-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death. She is in custody at Hartford County Detention Center awaiting processing.
If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
