A Texas mother and her boyfriend have been charged with capital murder in the death of her 3-year-old son, who was taken off life support on Sunday after two months in the hospital.
Chelsea Rene Berg and Christopher Thomas Alexander were arrested Monday and charged with capital murder of a person under 10, according to KVII.
Dawson Cain Zamora’s death was announced on social media by his father, KDFW reported.
“My son Dawson has passed away,” wrote Dahrian Zamora. “He held on to spend one last birthday with me and refused to go until then.”
Berg and Alexander were initially arrested in October after the toddler, Dawson Cain Zamora, was brought to a hospital with severe brain trauma, including a brain bleed, bruising in various states of healing all over his body, wounds to his chest and abdomen, and anal trauma, as CrimeOnline previously reported.
Alexander was charged at that time with injury to a child, stalking, and tampering/fabricating evidence with intent to impair an investigation. Berg was charged with injury to a child.
Court documents said that Alexander, 30, brought Dawson to the hospital on October 14, saying he heard a “thud” and found the boy. But hospital staff said the injuries the child suffered did not match Alexander’s claims and called police.
Police spoke with Berg, 30, who said she left the boy with Alexander at around 7:30 that morning, then later got a text from the boyfriend about Dawson eating lunch. But after lunch, she said, he gave her a panicked phone call saying he was taking the child to the hospital.
Berg said she rushed to the hospital, where Alexander told her the same story about the “thud” he told hospital staff. Police showed Berg photos of her son’s injuries, and she said he didn’t have them when she left for work that morning. Meanwhile, Alexander hired an attorney while at the hospital and refused to speak with police.
Alexander and Berg were both arrested two days later. Alexander has remained behind bars since his arrest on a $250,000 bond. Berg was released on a $100,000 bond at that time, but was taken back into custody after the boy’s death. Both are now being held without bond, jail records show.
For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast.
[Featured image: Chelsea Rene Berg and Christopher Thomas Alexander/Collin County Sheriff’s Office. Inset: Dawson Cain Zamora/GoFundMe]