According to court documents, capital murder charges were filed against Verna McClain, 30, overnight.
"Ms. McClain is currently charged with capital murder. Here in Texas, capital murder requires a felony to have been commited in the course of committing the murder," said Brett Ligon with the Montgomery County DA's Office. "It's obviously something we take very seriously and as part of it, we are requesting Ms. McClain be held with no bond."
It all started in the parking lot of a clinic off Borough Park and Sawdust in The Woodlands late yesterday afternoon. Investigators say Kala Golden, 28, was leaving a check-up with her three-day-old son, Keegan Schuchardt, when she got into an argument with a woman in a parked Lexus.
Witnesses say the woman shot Golden several times, snatched her baby and then drove off, hitting Golden as she screamed and chased after them.
Golden was transported to Memorial Hermann Hospital where she was later pronounced dead.
As the investigation unfolded, authorities developed new leads that led them to a nearby apartment complex where they found infant.
Court documents also detail how McClain's sister told authorities that Verna had been wanting to adopt a child and now had that child.
"There were statements as indicated in the arrest record which were made by Ms. McClain, that led us to believe that this was an intentional act on her part not that Ms. Golden was targeted specifically but that this was part of a plan to kidnap a child," Ligon said.
Sky-Eye 13 HD was over the Fawnridge apartments on Sawdust as SWAT officers stormed an apartment unit. They found a woman and a Lexus matching the description of the one used in the kidnapping. There was a bullet hole and blood on the side of the vehicle.
Authorities questioned the woman and were able to locate baby Keegan at a home off FM 1960 in north Harris County.
"I can't stress enough to you the feeling that went through the law enforcement group when everybody realized that we were able to recover the child," said Ligon.
Authorities say they'll focus on the motive today. The baby has not been reunited with his father just yet.
Go to ABC13 Eyewitness News for the latest on this developing story.
