The parents of a Texas man with special needs have been arrested after authorities discovered their 26-year-old son’s body buried in a shallow grave in the family’s backyard.
Jonathan James Mitchell and December Marie Mitchell were taken into custody last week and charged with one count each of tampering or fabricating physical evidence with the intent to impair a human corpse. The charges stem from the death of their son, Jonathan Kinman, authorities announced.
According to a Monday news release from the Burleson Police Department, officers responded on Tuesday, October 14, to a welfare check request at a residence in the 400 block of White Oak Lane, approximately 40 miles southwest of Dallas. The caller asked police to check on Kinman, who lived at the home with his parents.
During the welfare check, police said that “information was shared” which led them to believe Kinman “might be deceased” and possibly buried in the backyard of the residence.
The following morning, Wednesday, October 15, police, assisted by agents from the Texas Rangers, executed a search warrant on the Mitchells’ property. Authorities located a shallow grave in the backyard, from which they exhumed human remains. The body was identified as Kinman.
The remains were transported to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office, where an autopsy was conducted on Thursday, October 16. Police confirmed that the autopsy results are still pending and a cause of death has not yet been determined.
December and Jonathan Mitchell were taken to Johnson County Jail for processing. They are currently being held on bonds of $250,000 each, records show. It was not immediately clear when they are scheduled to appear in court.
Police declined to provide any additional details about the case, stating that release of such information could interfere with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of an open or pending criminal matter.
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