TEXAS CITY, Texas (AP) - The Latest on the killing of three children in Texas (all times local):
7:15 p.m.
Authorities say the man accused of killing three young children posted on social media after the attack that he had become enraged after being fired from his job.
Police in Texas City, southeast of Houston, said Friday that they have not confirmed a motive in the attack but say 27-year-old Junaid Hashim Mehmood had worked at a Goodwill store in nearby League City.
It’s not clear when he may have been fired. Mehmood was the father of one of the children.
The bodies of the children were found in an apartment Thursday evening and their mother, 24-year-old Kimaria Nelson, was beaten and shot repeatedly in the head with a pellet gun.
Mehmood later surrendered to authorities.
Police Chief Joe Stanton says Mehmood cooperated with detectives who interviewed him and “went into details with our investigators as far as his involvement.”
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6:30 p.m.
Authorities in Southeast Texas have charged a 27-year-old man with capital murder following an attack that left three children dead and their mother with severe injuries.
Texas City police Chief Joe Stanton said Friday that Junaid Hashim Mehmood is facing two counts of capital murder along with a charge of aggravated assault.
Mehmood is being held without bond at the Galveston County jail. Online jail records don’t indicate whether he has an attorney.
Stanton says the three children found dead Thursday in an apartment were stabbed and beaten. One child was 5 years old, another was 1 and the third was an infant.
Their mother, 24-year-old Kimaria Nelson, was beaten and shot several times in the head with a pellet gun. She remained hospitalized Friday.
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5:45 p.m.
Records show a man jailed following the killings of three children in Southeast Texas has had previous arrests for offenses that include assault.
Authorities arrested 27-year-old Junaid Hashim Mehmood late Thursday, just hours after the slain children and their wounded mother - 24-year-old Kimaria Nelson - were discovered by officers in an apartment in Texas City. Investigators said Friday that he was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in the shooting of Nelson.
Police have said more charges were expected.
Court records show that in 2015, Mehmood was convicted of assault causing bodily injury for shoving a family member. He was also convicted a year earlier for assault causing bodily injury for striking a girlfriend - not Nelson - with his hand. Following both convictions, the court said it was against the law for him to have a gun.
He was also convicted of robbery in 2015.
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3:50 p.m.
Prosecutors say a person of interest in the slaying of three children in Southeast Texas has been charged with aggravated assault in the non-fatal shooting of their mother.
Police Thursday night found 24-year-old Kimaria Nelson shot in the head and her three children dead in their apartment in Texas City.
Galveston County assistant district attorney Kevin Petroff said Friday that Junaid Hashim Mehmood has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in the attack on Nelson. Police say more charges are expected.
Police say Mehmood lived with the family and was the father of the youngest slain child.
Petroff says Mehmood was arrested late Thursday on a misdemeanor warrant for providing alcohol to a minor.
A University of Texas Medical Branch spokesman said he didn’t have information on Nelson’s condition Friday.
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1:30 p.m.
Police say the father of one of three children found slain in Southeast Texas has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Junaid Hashim Mehmood was arrested late Thursday, just hours after the slain children and their wounded mother were discovered by officers in an apartment in Texas City, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of Houston.
Mehmood has been identified as a person of interest in the shootings but was arrested on an unrelated warrant. Police say more charges will come Friday. He is being held without bond.
Police officers responding to a request for a welfare check discovered the bodies of 1-month-old Ashanti Mehmood, Prince Larry Brown, who would have turned 2 later this month, and 5-year-old Angela Pilot. Police said Nelson was alive but unable to speak.
The mother, 24-year-old Kimaria Nelson, was shot in the head.
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10:55 a.m.
Authorities say a person of interest in the slaying of three children in Southeast Texas has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Texas City Police said in a statement Friday that 27-year-old Junaid Hashim Mehmood is being held without bond. Police didn’t say what incident the charge was related to, and police haven’t returned a phone message seeking clarity.
Police say additional charges are expected Friday.
Mehmood was taken into custody Thursday night on an unrelated warrant after the children were found dead and 24-year-old Kimaria Nelson was found shot in the head in their apartment in Texas City.
Police identified the children as 1-month-old Ashanti Mehmood, almost 2-year-old Prince Larry Brown and 5-year-old Angela Pilot. Police say Nelson was the mother of all three children and that Mehmood was Ashanti’s biological father. He lived in the apartment with them.
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10 a.m.
Police say a person of interest in the slaying of three children and the wounding of a woman has been arrested on an unrelated warrant in Southeast Texas.
Texas City Police say 27-year-old Junaid Hashim Mehmood surrendered and was jailed Thursday night.
The police statement doesn’t describe the warrant nor explain the relationship between Mehmood, the wounded women and the children. Investigators haven’t indicated a motive.
Police making a welfare check at Pointe Ann Apartments in Texas City Thursday evening found an infant, a 2-year-old and a 5-year-old dead. The woman had been shot in the head.
Texas City police Lt. Kenneth Brown described the woman’s injuries as severe and told the Houston Chronicle that she couldn’t speak.
Texas City is about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of Houston.
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This version of the story corrects to say the children were stabbed and beaten, not shot.
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