POLK COUNTY, Texas — The boyfriend of a mother of five who was found dead in a wooded area near Livingston on Monday has been arrested in her death, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office.
Editor's note: The above video was published before the man was arrested.
On Monday, 25-year-old Jasmine Muldoon was found dead in a wooded area off U.S. Highway 59 just north of Livingston after she was reported missing on Sunday.
Muldoon’s mother, Dewana Bowman, said that she is still trying to understand the circumstances that led to Jasmine’s death.
“She was my firstborn baby, she made me a mom,” she said. “He took my daughter’s life away from us.”
Muldoon's boyfriend, 23-year-old De’Andre Wright, was wanted on a 1st-degree felony murder charge, according to the sheriff's office. Wednesday morning, PCSO said Wright had been arrested and was being held at the Polk County Jail.
Bowman told KHOU 11 News that Wright and her daughter were in a relationship for more than two years and shared a child. However, she explained that Wright was extremely controlling.
“When she was allowed to come over here, she’d be covered in bruises. It was a very abusive violent relationship that we all tried to get her away from,” she said.
Muldoon was originally reported missing on Sunday. Bowman said Wright's own mother called the police when she went to the couple's home and Muldoon wasn't there.
“I was hoping that she had ran and hid and got away from him,” she said. “Unfortunately, she didn’t make it.”
Bowman said she wants Wright to face jail time.
“You claimed to love my daughter, you claimed to love her children. Why could you, how could you do this, I mean I don’t understand,” she said “I want him in jail where he belongs so he can never hurt another child or person again.”
The Harris County Medical Examiner is investigating Muldoon’s cause of death.