Mom Strangles 7-Year-Old Autistic Son, Dumps His Naked Body In Forest After Learning Technique From Crime Shows

A California mother accused of murdering her 7-year-old son told investigators that she strangled the boy and removed his clothes so it would be "more difficult to associate him with her," a technique she had seen in television crime shows.

35-year-old Samantha Moreno-Rodriguez, of San Jose, California, was indicted Friday, July 30, for the murder of Liam Husted, whose naked body was found off a trail in Mountain Springs near Las Vegas in May.

Hikers discovered the child’s body on May 28, about eight feet off a dirt road near several bushes. The boy’s remained unidentified for a week until detectives located and arrested Moreno-Rodriguez from a hotel in Denver earlier in June.

Moreno-Rodriguez told police that Husted who was diagnosed with autism had developmental issues and was difficult to manage.

According to the investigators, Moreno-Rodriguez left San Jose with her son to look for a better life. They reportedly drove to Southern California but "didn't have direction of where they were going," investigators said.

They eventually reached Las Vegas, where they checked into an off-Strip motel on May 26, according to grand jury transcripts.

On the morning of May 28, the mother and son went for a hike but Husted was reportedly being very impatient. She described "being physically exhausted trying to care for Liam him and keep up with him and he just won't listen."

"Samantha indicated that she pushed Liam causing him to fall and hit his head,” the investigators told the grand jury. “She said that she also fell during this process and then after Liam fell and hit his head he started screaming, top of his lungs, louder than she had ever heard him scream before and she wasn’t so sure how to stop him from crying. The things that she had tried in the past to calm him down weren’t working and now he’s been injured by falling and hitting his head so he’s screaming at the top of his, as she describes it at the top of his lungs."

Moreno-Rodriguez told investigators that she strangled her son for 10-15 mins, according to court documents.

"Samantha indicated that she had watched television crime shows and thought that by removing his clothing, it would make it more difficult to associate him with her after she left the area," the investigator told the court.

Moreno-Rodriguez will appear in court for an arraignment hearing on Wednesday, according to court records.