Officers with the Burleson Police Department have arrested a couple accused of burying their special needs son in the backyard.
Burleson police arrested December Mitchell and Jonathan Mitchell on October 14, after learning their special needs son, 26-year-old Jonathan Kinman, was buried in their backyard, the department announced in a statement. The Mitchells face charges for tampering with or fabricating physical evidence with the intent to impair a human corpse.
December and Jonathan Mitchell are both being held in the Johnson County Jail, each facing a $250,000 bond, according to jail records.
Burleson police responded to a welfare check for Kinman at 433 White Oak Lane in Burleson on October 14, according to the statement. He lived there with his mother, December, and his stepfather, Jonathan.
“During the welfare check, information was shared indicating that Kinman might be deceased and possibly buried in the backyard of the residence,” the statement reads.
So officers arrested the Mitchells, and prosecutors charged the couple.
The next morning, October 15, Burleson police and Texas Rangers found a shallow grave in the backyard. They exhumed Kinman’s body and brought it to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office, which performed an autopsy on October 16. The autopsy results were still pending, and the cause of death had not been determined.
Burleson police said investigators never believed there was a threat to the public, which is why they did not make the case public earlier. Officials said this is an ongoing investigation.