commentary by Patrick H. Moore
In a case that’s sure to ignite boatloads of anger on the part of true crime followers everywhere, Melinda Lynn Muniz, 25, of Plano, Texas, has been arrested and charged with capital murder in the suffocation death of her fiancé’s daughter, even though she claimed she had been assaulted by an unknown male on the morning of the incident.
In an attempt to deflect suspicion, Muniz allegedly went so far as to stage a break-in on January 9th at the apartment she shared in the 1500 block of J Place with her fiancé Mitch Ford. The investigators, however, simply are not buying her story and have stated that her explanation is full of holes.
According to the arrest affidavit, Muniz was found on the floor of another room with her mouth taped shut and her pants pulled down. Meanwhile, Mitch Ford’s daughter, two-year-old Grace Lillian Ford, was found unconscious in her crib, her mouth covered with duct tape.
Although Grace was rushed to the hospital where she hung on to a slender thread of life for the next three days, she was pronounced dead on January 12th. The child’s death was ruled a homicide on January 22 by the Dallas County Medical Examiner’s office.
A particularly damning bit of evidence is a surveillance video showing that Muniz went to a nearby dollar store on Jan. 9th, the morning of the incident, and purchased duct tape, zip ties, kitchen shears, and cotton swabs just hours before police were called to her apartment. As Muniz tracks down her items of infamy at the dollar store, she has little Grace riding with her in the shopping cart.
Ouch! Assuming the authorities are correct, and at first glance it appears that they might be, some folks are going to ask, “What sort of monster would do this? This is purely inhuman and if convicted, this woman should receive the death penalty.”
In piecing the story together, law enforcement discovered that Muniz and her erstwhile fiancé Mitch Ford had quarreled on the morning of January 9th over text messages and a topless video on Muniz’ cell phone that Ford believed she had sent to her personal trainer. As you might imagine, Ford was none too pleased and had told Muniz they were going to break up just before he left for work that morning.
Thus, the motive… Muniz is hurt and angry over the fact Ford says he’s going to leave her, even though she’s reportedly the one who sent a topless video to her personal trainer. (Given that I am of prurient nature, I can’t help but wonder if it’s an aerobic topless video, or merely a series of come-hither poses.) So Muniz decides, ‘I’m gonna fix you, you bastard!’ What better way to fix him than by murdering his little girl?
Of course, if this is all true, Muniz is in very serious trouble. And, the prosecution’s case is strengthened by the fact that the appropriate medical tests failed to corroborate Muniz’s claim that she had been sexually assaulted.
There are several more interesting wrinkles to this already curious tale:
On Jan. 10th, one day after the incident, Muniz reportedly told the investigators that she had memory loss and, “could not remember the last couple of months and said her memory should come back in a couple of days.”
One, of course, wonders how Muniz could remember being assaulted while in the throes of a two-month amnesia episode. But perhaps it only affected her long-term memory.
And the grieving fiancé Mitch Ford also appears to be a bit strange. He recently informed the authorities that he had met with Muniz after his daughter’s death despite the fact he was advised not to by police and his attorneys. In the affidavit, the police write that Ford stated that Muniz continued to act as if she did not recognize him. He questioned her about her claims of amnesia in his car, and later had drinks with her at a restaurant in McKinney where she continued to act as if she didn’t remember the last year-and-a-half. Thus, Muniz’s claim of two months of memory loss was elongated into a whopping 18 months by Ford.
There is, of course, one more missing piece to this evening of drinks and memory loss. This is the fact, according to Ford, that he and Muniz had sex in his car down the street from her house at the end of the evening. In other words, Muniz remembered how to have sex and did the deed in a car with a man she did not recognize. Ford also stated that as Muniz was leaving, she asked him if anything was going to happen to her. Ford told the authorities that he told Muniz that Grace had died, but gave her no other specific information.
And just so it’s permanently on the record, repeat after me: Mitch Ford had sex in his car with an amnesiac – the same amnesiac who allegedly murdered his innocent 2-year-old daughter, approximately one week after the homicide.
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Although Grace Ford’s family refused to be filmed, they issued the following written statement:
“God will make sure justice is served to the fullest. What this monster did is as evil as it can get. There is no excuse.”
In this case, by justice being served to the fullest, I assume the Ford family means the good old DP. Some folks apparently believe that the DP will fix everything – right all wrongs and generally bring closure, no matter how profound the disaster.
There is little doubt, however, that the Ford family was on to the fact that something was rotten in the Muniz-Ford household.
According to the affidavit, Grace’s grandfather actually contacted Child Protective Services two days before the January 9th incident, and asked them to reopen the case, telling CPS that a pattern of abuse had begun when Muniz and Ford moved in together.
CPS reportedly paid visits to the apartment on J Place on July 20, 2013, Nov. 1, 2013, and Dec. 19, 2013. CPS apparently was unable to confirm any abuse. A spokesperson said the repeat visits were appropriate to determine if anything had been missed.
“CPS has been called in three times since July; that raises a red flag for anyone reading the story, I’m sure,” said Gracie’s aunt, Stephanie Beltran. “Unfortunately, CPS didn’t protect Grace. Absolutely [more should have been done]. I think we’re all angry about that.”
The deceased 2-year-old’s mother, Emily Ward, also refused to speak on camera but stated that she hopes her daughter’s murder will bring changes that serve to “force CPS to better protect children.” Ward also said that she had accused Muniz of handling her daughter roughly and inflicting bruises in the past, as well as intentionally overdosing the child with Benadryl.
Although Emily Ward, as a grieving mother, has the right to say anything she wants about the case, I do wonder why little Grace wasn’t with Emily or other relatives, given the fact that everyone apparently knew that the child was being abused.
Muniz is being held at the Plano City Jail on $1 million bond.