A Texas mother has been charged with capital murder after two young children were found dead inside a burning car in San Antonio, according to police.

Authorities said officers discovered the children, believed to be around five and seven years old, on Friday after someone walking their dog called 911 to report a vehicle on fire behind a warehouse. When emergency crews arrived, they found the white Hyundai engulfed in flames, as well as the bodies of the children in question.

How the incident unfolded

Investigators later said the witness identified 34-year-old Marlene Vidal near the vehicle as it burned. During a press conference, San Antonio Police Assistant Chief Jesse Salame said Vidal later admitted she was connected to the case.

“She was the mother of the two deceased children,” Salame said, adding that Vidal indicated “she was the one that we would be looking for.”

Police said surveillance footage, statements from Vidal, and evidence collected at the scene point towards her acting alone.

“At this stage of the investigation, we have statements made by the suspect, along with surveillance video and evidence from the scene that indicate she was solely responsible for the death of these two children,” Salame explained.

Mother accused of killing her children. Credit: KWTX

Police looking for answers

The children’s bodies had not yet been formally identified on Friday, although their ages had been established as five and seven years old. Authorities declined to release their genders or details about how they died while the investigation remains active.

Salame acknowledged that investigators still do not know exactly why the tragedy happened.

“Everyone’s going to want to know why something like this happened, and unfortunately, the why is sometimes the hardest question to answer,” he said.

However, police noted there were signs that mental health struggles may have contributed to the incident.

“There are indications that mental health issues may have played a role,” Salame added.

Earlier in the morning, police initially believed there may have been three children inside the car, including “possibly an infant.” That information changed after firefighters helped dismantle parts of the vehicle so investigators could fully examine the interior.

Authorities are also working to speak with the children’s father and other relatives as they try to establish a motive.

“These cases are incredibly difficult, and no matter how long you’ve been doing the job, scenes involving children are never easy,” Salame said. “The emotional toll is significant, not only for the first responders and investigators, but for our entire community.”

Vidal, who is from Edinburg, Texas, has been charged with capital murder. Under Texas law, the charge carries either life in prison without parole or the option of the death penalty if convicted.

Local schools confirmed the children had ties to nearby districts. Vanguard Academy said one of the children attended pre-K there last year, while IDEA Public Schools stated the children had been enrolled for the upcoming school year.

Featured Image. Credit: KWTX

A Texas mom has been arrested for posing as her 13-year-old daughter for an entire day at middle school.

Casey Garcia was arrested on Friday, June 4, in El Paso, Texas, and now faces charges of suspicion of criminal trespassing and tampering with government records, the New York Times reported.

The incident took place on Tuesday, June 1, at an unnamed school in the San Elizario Independent School District, per CBS 12 News.

The 30-year-old mom entered the school wearing a hoodie, backpack, high-top sneakers, and facemask - all so she could prove how lax the security is at the institution.

Garcia even shared a YouTube video detailing her plan to breach the school and pose as her teenage daughter Julie - and included footage of its successful execution.

She said in the video: "I’ve been here all day, face-to-face with teachers Do I look like a seventh-grader? No? Cool. Awesome."

The unusual stunt saw her disguise as a seventh-grade student go completely unnoticed by staff at the school - until the seventh period at the end of the school day.

Before she was finally caught out, the only issue she had with faculty members was being reprimanded by a teacher for having her phone out.

"The school was so concerned that my phone was out that they weren't even paying attention to who I was," she added in the video.

Garcia is also seen greeting the school's unsuspecting principal. She sat in classrooms, ate her lunch in the cafeteria, and chatted with staff members.

In a follow-up video, Garcia said the intention behind the social experiment was to show that security at schools is lacking.

'I don’t think it should have ever gotten this far,' she said. 'I’m telling you right now we need better security at our schools — this is what I tried to prove.'

She added: "This is about our children and the safety of our children. That’s all I’m trying to do is prevent another mass shooting."

As of May 28, there had been 225 mass shootings in the US in 2021 so far, Insider reports.

Featured image credit: Pexels / This Is Engineering

A Texas mom has defended fatally shooting a 14-year-old boy who was trying to enter her home.

Aleah Wallace, a Fort Worth mother of four, spoke exclusively to FOX 4 about the recent incident in which she shot and killed a 14-year-old boy attempting to break into her rental home.

The tragic event has sparked yet another conversation around self-defense and gun ownership.

The incident occurred on December 14, when Wallace - who lives with her four daughters in a duplex - heard someone attempting to break in. Wallace revealed that she had recently acquired a gun to protect her family after a series of break-ins in the local area.

"I was cleaning my living room, sweeping my floor, and I heard my window start going back up," Wallace recalled. "So I went, and I stood in the hallway. And I could see him standing at the window, lifting it up. I just shot."

The gunshots tragically claimed the life of 14-year-old Devin Baker, who was at the bedroom window of Wallace's eight-year-old daughter. The incident occurred not long after the police had left Wallace's home following her 911 call about the attempted break-in.

Wallace explained that she had experienced four attempted burglaries before this incident, and she felt she had to take action to protect her family.

"I have four daughters. It’s just me and my four daughters that stay there. I just was protecting my daughters," she said. "I'm devastated that he was 14. I hate that. I literally do. And I'm so sorry. But at that point, I had to think about my babies. I didn’t know he was 14 when he was on the other side of that window.

"All I knew was that somebody could come in and hurt me or my kids. That's it."

The case has been sent to a grand jury - but no charges have been filed against Wallace at this time.

Wallace has also revealed that she is now facing eviction from her subsidized housing. She claims that her apartment management informed her that she was not allowed to have a gun, despite her repeated reports of attempted break-ins. Wallace said she was given 30 days to vacate her apartment and now faces uncertainty about housing for her family.

"I feel like I'm back at square one. I was there for six years, and now I don't know what to do," she said.

There is no clear law prohibiting residents of government-subsidized housing from owning a gun, and no signs indicating such restrictions were found on the property.

The complex's local manager directed inquiries to the corporate office, which, in turn, advised contacting on-site management.

In another report by Fox, it was revealed that the teenager was an eighth-grader at a local middle school.

His mom had revealed that he snuck out of the house that evening, and she didn't realize he was gone until the morning.

Featured image credit: Fox4

Pennsylvania police have released chilling details following the arrest of a teenager accused of murdering her sister.

As reported by The New York Post, a then-14-year-old Claire Miller was arrested back on February 22, 2021, after her 19-year-old disabled sister, Helen, was found dead in their family home in Manheim Township.

Miller is accused of killing Helen with a kitchen knife as her older sister was sleeping in her bed. Police records show that officers arrived to the family home at approximately 1:00AM, where they found Miller covered in blood. Court records show that she repeatedly told officers "I stabbed my sister".

Helen lived with cerebral palsy and was a wheelchair user.

On Tuesday, Manheim Township police officer John Martin testified at the Lancaster County Court and recalled comments made by Miller following her arrest.

Per the Patriot-News, Martin revealed that at no moment did Miller - now 16 - appear upset or distraught over the death of her sister while she was being monitored in a juvenile detention cell.

According to Martin, after cops provided her with a McDonald's breakfast meal, Miller said: "Oooh, McDonald's. I would have killed someone sooner if I knew I was going to get McDonald's."

Miller also made a reference to the 1978 horror movie Halloween - a movie in which the lead villain, Michael Myers, murders his sister on on Halloween night with a kitchen knife.

Martin said Miller told police: "I Michael Myers’ed my sister."

This week's court hearing was issued to determine whether or not Miller would face a homicide charge in an adult court or a juvenile court - with the latter offering a greater emphasis on treatment and rehabilitation.

Clair and Helen's mother, Marie Miller, testified in court on Monday, and told the court, per WGAL: "We love both of them. I know Claire did not mean to do this. We lost Helen and we don’t want to lose Claire too."

"We don’t want her to be punished, not get help, and be put away for a long period for something that was out of her control. We can’t lose her too," Marie added.

Psychiatrists have also testified that Miller suffered from psychosis, depression, and anxiety. The teenager also allegedly revealed that had heard voices on the night Helen died telling her to harm herself.

However, Assistant District Attorney Amy Muller has argued in court that Miller is "a kid who had it all but was obsessed with homicide", with prosecutors saying that there is enough evidence to prove that the teen wanted to hurt others.

Featured image credit: Felix Choo / Alamy

Three innocent US women and six children have allegedly been slaughtered by a drug cartel while traveling to Mexico for a wedding, the New York Post has reported.

The attack was a highway ambush in the Mexican border state of Sonora on Monday, November 4, in the town of Bavispe, approximately 100 miles south of the Arizona border.

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Kendra Lee Miller, a relative of the victims, told NBC News that the dead included 29-year-old Christina Marie Langford Johnson, 43-year-old Dawna Langford, 11-year-old Trevor Langford, two-year-old Rogan Langford, 30-year-old Rhonita Miller, 12-year-old Howard Miller, 10-year-old Krystal Miller, eight-month-old twins, Titus and Tiana Miller.

The family were all members of a Mormon community living in a settlement known as La Mora - a community founded by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Another relative of the victims, Jhon LeBaron, also took to Facebook to share images of the dead. He captioned the post: "Just got word both my Aunt Dawna and Christina have been killed, the Cartel murdered them and several of their babies ? They left 6 of Dawnas kids on the side of the road and took off. [sic]"

He added: "My aunt Dawnas son Devon hid some of his shot and wounded siblings in the bushes and ran all the way back to town for help. Please pray that the murderers are caught & brought to justice. [sic]"

Meanwhile, another survivor of the attack, who goes by the name Lafe Langford Jr, shared a video of the burned-out fuselage of one of the cars on social media.

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Commenting on the tragic news, US Ambassador Christopher Landau tweeted in Spanish that: "The safety of our fellow citizens is our top priority. I am closely following the situation in the mountains between Sonora and Chihuahua."

CNN reports that the Mexican government is struggling to maintain public security amid a wave of brutal homicides committed by drug trafficking organizations, with a convoy of 13 police officers killed in an ambush in Aguililla earlier this week.