Police said the suspect’s 4-year-old nephew was recovered safely hours after the killing, ending a multi-state search tied to an Amber Alert.
MANSFIELD, Texas — A 20-year-old North Texas man is accused of killing his mother in her home, taking her 4-year-old grandson and driving out of state before officers in Missouri found the child safe later the same day, authorities said.
Police said the case moved quickly from a homicide investigation to an interstate child recovery on Jan. 31, when officers answering a call at a house in the 200 block of Cotton Drive found 63-year-old Andrea Colgrove dead and learned her grandson was missing. Investigators later identified Colgrove’s son, Raymond Isaac Carmona, as the suspect, and court records show he now faces charges of murder, aggravated kidnapping and theft of a motor vehicle. The child was recovered within hours, but the killing left questions about motive and family circumstances that authorities had not publicly answered.
The investigation began at about 8:50 a.m. Jan. 31, when a family member arrived at the Mansfield home and found Colgrove unresponsive on the floor, according to police accounts released after the arrest. Emergency crews responded, but she was pronounced dead at the scene. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner later determined that Colgrove died from a stab wound to the neck and ruled the death a homicide. As detectives worked inside the house, they learned that Colgrove was the legal guardian of her 4-year-old grandson and that the boy was gone. Officers also determined that a tan 2009 Toyota Corolla was missing from the residence. That shifted the case from a deadly assault to a search for a young child believed to be traveling with a homicide suspect. Detectives entered the boy into state and national law enforcement databases as a critical missing person, and police withheld his name because of his age.
Investigators soon focused on Carmona, Colgrove’s 20-year-old son, as the person they believed had killed her, taken the child and left in the Corolla. Police have not publicly described what evidence first pointed them to him, but authorities said the inquiry led them to believe the vehicle had crossed state lines and was headed into or through Missouri. Missouri authorities then issued an Amber Alert, and the car was entered into law enforcement databases as stolen. Officers in Missouri found the Toyota at a Casey’s gas station in Christian County. Police said Carmona and the child were inside when troopers moved in. Video cited by local reports showed officers approaching with guns drawn and ordering the driver to show his hands before taking him into custody. Missouri authorities said the alert had gone out only minutes earlier. The boy was found safe at about 2:40 p.m., ending the search less than six hours after Mansfield officers were first dispatched to the home.
The recovery turned what could have become a prolonged interstate manhunt into a same-day arrest, and officials pointed to technology and coordination across agencies as key reasons. Missouri authorities said license plate reader technology and tips from the public helped officers locate the car quickly after the alert was issued. Mansfield police later thanked Missouri and Arkansas highway patrol agencies for helping recover the child and detain the suspect. In a public statement after the arrest, the Mansfield Police Department said the case showed how law enforcement agencies across state lines can work together to protect communities and serve victims. Even so, several parts of the case remained unclear in the days after Carmona was booked into jail. Police did not publicly explain a motive. They also did not fully describe the relationship between Carmona and the child beyond saying Colgrove had legal guardianship of the boy, who was identified in some reports as her grandson and Carmona’s nephew. Authorities have also not said whether any prior family court or protective case history is tied to the investigation.
After the child was recovered, Mansfield detectives traveled to Missouri and interviewed Carmona. Investigators said he admitted being involved in his mother’s death during that interview. Authorities have not released the full contents of that statement, and court filings available through local reports did not spell out whether prosecutors intend to rely on a confession, forensic evidence from the home, witness statements or a combination of those pieces. What is public is the charging path that followed. Carmona was returned to Tarrant County, and FOX 4 reported that he was indicted by a grand jury on Feb. 6. He was later booked into the Tarrant County Corrections Center, where county inmate records show he remained in custody. Local reports said his combined bond was set at $1,007,500. The listed charges are murder, aggravated kidnapping and theft of property involving a motor vehicle. His initial court appearance was scheduled for Feb. 23 at 9 a.m. in the 485th District Court in Tarrant County, according to local court reporting. Police have said the investigation remains active and ongoing.
The facts that emerged publicly drew a stark picture of a family crime that unfolded inside a quiet Mansfield neighborhood before widening across several states in a matter of hours. Colgrove was 63, and officials said she had stepped into a legal guardian role for the young boy who disappeared from the home after her death. Carmona, at 20, is accused of moving from the fatal attack to an interstate flight in the family’s missing sedan. The child, who police said was found unharmed, was later turned over to Child Protective Services. That handoff closed the emergency phase of the case, but it did not end the deeper questions that often follow such cases: what family strain or conflict led to the killing, whether warning signs were missed and how long prosecutors may need to assemble the evidence for trial. For now, authorities have kept the focus on the narrow facts they say they can prove — a fatal stabbing in Mansfield, a missing child in a stolen car and an arrest at a Missouri gas station after an Amber Alert.
As of the latest public updates, Carmona remained jailed in Tarrant County and the homicide investigation was still open. The next major milestone was his scheduled Feb. 23 court appearance, where the case was expected to move from arrest and extradition into the early stages of prosecution.