Texas – In a deeply disturbing case out of Texas, a 22-year-old mother, identified as O. Munoz, has admitted to beating her 7-month-old daughter over a period of time, ultimately causing the child’s death. Munoz pleaded guilty last week to the murder of a person under 10 and injury to a child with intent to cause serious bodily harm in the death of her young daughter.
The incident unfolded on the morning of December 19, 2023, when Munoz called police to her home. Officers with the police department arrived to find the baby unresponsive and not breathing. EMS quickly followed and began life-saving measures before rushing the child to a hospital. Despite every effort, the baby was pronounced dead shortly after arriving.
The details that emerged afterward painted a picture of prolonged, hidden suffering. It was hospital staff who first alerted police to signs of trauma on infant’s body. Their concerns launched an immediate investigation. When officers questioned Munoz, she made a stunning admission. She told them she had caused the injuries during three separate incidents and had never taken the child to receive medical care. Her reasons were disturbingly specific. As Police Chief G. Figueroa later explained, Munoz said she had “a lot of anger towards the 7-month-old baby due to problems she had with the baby’s father.” She revealed that all three of her children, including the 7-month-old daughter, shared the same biological father.
At the time of the infant’s death, Munoz was also pregnant again and caring for another young daughter, just over a year old. That child was unharmed, according to authorities. The morning the 7-month-old girl was found unresponsive, it was Munoz’s own mother who tried to intervene. After hearing Munoz say the baby wasn’t breathing, the grandmother directed another family member to call 911. But it was too late. The damage had already been done. When the victim’s autopsy results came in, they confirmed what investigators feared. The infant had suffered extensive injuries—fractures to her arms, ribs, and skull. The medical examiner ruled the death a homicide.
Munoz was arrested the day after her daughter died, initially on two counts of injury to a child. But in January 2024, once the autopsy report confirmed the full scope of the abuse, charges were elevated to capital murder. In March 2024, a grand jury indicted Munoz on two counts of capital murder and one count of first-degree injury to a child. The legal proceedings moved slowly, delayed in part by a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation and a possible insanity defense. But by mid-October, a plea agreement was reached. On October 24, Munoz formally accepted responsibility, pleading guilty in exchange for prosecutors dropping one of the murder charges and reducing the capital murder count to a lesser offense.
Under the agreement, she will serve life in prison on both counts, with no possibility of parole. The sentencing hearing is pending, but for the baby’s family—and the investigators who worked the case—the resolution brings a form of justice. A baby’s life ended far too soon, not at the hands of a stranger, but by the very person meant to protect her. And now, that person will never walk free again.
