Prosecutor: California mother admitted strangling special-needs son found dead in Nevada desert

LAS VEGAS (TCD) --

A California woman arrested in Denver more than a week after her son’s body was found in a Nevada desert in June was arraigned in Las Vegas on Wednesday, June 30.

Samantha Moreno Rodriguez, 35, charged with the murder of her 7-year-old son, appeared via video conference in Las Vegas Justice Court, KLAS-TV reports. The judge denied her bond. Rodriguez was scheduled to be back in court on August 3.

Clark County Deputy District Attorney John Giordani said in the hearing Wednesday that Rodriguez confessed to killing her son, removing the boy’s clothes, and leaving him naked in the desert, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.

Rodriguez said she strangled the boy for about 15 minutes, according to Giordani.

The body of John “Little Zion” Doe was found on May 28 in Mountain Springs, Nevada, about 30 miles west of the city of Las Vegas, according to the FBI. Authorities sought tips from the public to help identify the boy.

A week later, on June 7, the FBI Las Vegas office announced the boy was identified as 7-year-old Liam Husted from San Jose, California. Authorities identified Samantha Moreno Rodriguez as a suspect in the boy’s death right away.

Before her arrest, Rodriguez had last been seen in Denver, Colorado, driving an SUV with California license plates, checking into a hotel alone.

Rodriguez and Husted left San Jose on May 24 in the vehicle, Las Vegas Metro Police said. They were seen in Laguna Beach and in Victorville in Southern California two days later, police said.  Two days after that, a hiker found the boy’s remains in a “forest area,” the Las Vegas Sun reported.

The boy’s father contacted authorities on June 1. The father is not considered a suspect in the case, police said.

The boy’s father told police that he arrived home May 24 to find his son, Rodriguez and their belongings missing. Rodriguez had left Husted a voicemail saying: “I’m sorry. I had to do this,” according to the Review-Journal.

A grandparent said Liam Husted “was a special needs child, at a disadvantage and dependent on others’ kindness,” the San Jose Mercury News reports.

MORE: