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Children Lead Authorities To Their Mother's Dead Body After Dad Turns Himself In, Sheriff Says
When law enforcement conducted a welfare check at Jason Armster's Harris County, Texas home, his children told them their mom was asleep in her bedroom, but she was dead.
A Texas man turned himself in to police Tuesday after allegedly shooting his wife – leaving his children to lead investigators to their mother’s dead body, according to authorities.
Jason Armster, 37, walked into a police station in Baytown Tuesday morning and told authorities he thought his wife might be dead, the Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez tweeted.
Authorities rushed to Armster’s home, where they were greeted by his three children, aged around 4, 7 and 11, Gonzalez tweeted.
They told authorities their mother was asleep in her bedroom – but prosecutors said that when authorities entered the room, they found 36-year-old Charlene Armster dead from a gunshot to the back of the head, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Jason Armster told investigators he hid his wife under the blankets because he didn’t want his children to have to see her lifeless body, prosecutors said. He allegedly said he thought she was having an affair.
Armster was charged with murder and tampering with evidence, according to online criminal records. His bond is set at $120,000.
Domestic violence cases like this one have surged in recent weeks, authorities told Houston news station KTRK-TV. Houston has seen a 6% uptick in domestic violence calls in the past two weeks, and over the past month, neighboring Montgomery County has had a 35% increase in these kinds of cases.
Authorities blame this increase on the stresses of social isolation. Harris County recently put out a “Stay Home, Work Safe” order banning all non-essential outdoor activities, Houston TV station KHOU-11 reports.
“In situations like this, [victims] may not die from the virus itself – they die from domestic violence,” Gonzalez told KHOU-11.
