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Texas Mom, Husband Arrested For Murdering Her Eight-Year-Old Son
Megan Lange and Rodolfo Reyes were arrested for murder on Monday in the strangulation death of her son, Arturo Coca, earlier in November.
A Texas mother and her husband are facing capital murder charges for allegedly abusing and then strangling her 8-year-old son to death.
Megan Lange, 29, and Rodolfo Reyes, 33, were arrested on Monday for capital murder of a person under the age of 10 and injury to a child, according to multiple media outlets.
Arturo Francisco Coca died earlier in November and weighed just 35 pounds, Ector County Sheriff Mike Griffis told the Odessa American. The 50th percentile for weight for a boy Coca's age is 55 pounds, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Lange reportedly called 911 on November 5 about an unresponsive child.
Firefighters were performing CPR on Arturo when Ector County sheriff deputies arrived on the scene. The young boy was rushed to a local hospital, but hospital workers were unable to save him, according to the Odessa American.
The hospital medical staff noted that he appeared malnourished and was small for his age. They also reported that he had multiple lacerations on his head, legs and back.
Griffis said the adults blamed the boy’s death on diabetes.
Lange reportedly told investigators that Arturo woke up after defecating and urinating on himself. She allegedly said that she'd cleaned him up and took him into the living room, after which she discovered he was not breathing, according to the sheriff’s office report reviewed by the Odessa American.
Police interviewed the six other children in the home and determined that Reyes was also at home when the boy became unresponsive.
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Reyes allegedly denied hurting Arturo, requested legal counsel and failed to provide further information, according to the police report.
A forensic pathologist ruled that Arturo died from “asphyxiation by manual strangulation with underlying causes of neglect,” according to the Odessa paper. The pathologist found hemorrhaging in Arturo’s neck and also concluded that he was malnourished.
Lange and Reyes are each being held on a $3 million bonds: $2 million for capital murder and $1 million for injury to a child, KOSA reported.
Arturo was buried on November 15.
He was a third-grade student at Burnet Elementary School — though he hadn't attended since 2021, according to a press release from the district obtained by the American — and loved playing football with his brothers, according to the obituary from the Acres West Funeral Chapel.
Arturo also enjoyed playing games on his iPad and playing "Call of Duty" and Fortnite.
