A woman in Texas was charged with killing her fiance's 2-year-old daughter on Tuesday, the New York Daily News reported.
Melinda Lynn Muniz, 25, originally told police that she and the girl, Grace Lillian Ford, were attacked in her fiance's Plano home on Jan. 12. When investigators showed up at the home, they found Muniz tied up with her pants down and Ford laying unconscious in her crib with duct tape covering her mouth.
Days later, a medical examiner ruled Ford's death as a homicide and said she died of suffocation.
Muniz described the attacker as someone with dark hair, wearing black gloves and black boots. She also told police that she was sexually assaulted during the incident, though evidence did not support her claim.
The girl's father, Mitch Ford, told police that he and Muniz got in a fight earlier that morning and told his fiance to move out of their apartment, according to a report by KDFW-TV.
After learning of the fight, authorities decided to investigate how Muniz spent her time prior to the "attack" and found surveillance footage of her and Grace at a dollar store, where she purchased duct tape, zip ties, kitchen shears, and cotton swabs.
"She took the child with her to purchase the items that she was going to use during the commission of the crime," Plano police spokesman David Tiley told WFAA-TV. "Clearly premeditated."
Once police had enough evidence to prove Muniz was behind the murder, she was arrested and charged with murder with bail set at $1 million.
