A North Carolina woman allegedly seen viciously beating her toddler son to death on the sidewalk behind a self-storage business in Maryland has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder and felony child abuse resulting in death, according to court records reviewed by Law&Crime.
Gloria Elena Hughes, 37, was spotted by police around 5:30 a.m. on Sunday wandering the street in the small Bel Air, Maryland, town while carrying her lifeless 3-year-old son in her arms, according to a statement from the Bel Air Police Department posted to Facebook.
Police were already being dispatched for a call made about “cardiac arrest involving a child” near the self-storage company when Hughes was first seen by an off-duty Harford County sheriff’s deputy.
The child, Jason Garcia, could not be revived despite rapid assistance from local emergency services called in once Hughes was found. He was transported to the University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Medical Center by Harford County EMS and pronounced deceased at approximately 6 a.m., police said.
The child, according to police, was seen on surveillance footage from the self-storage company being badly beaten by Hughes. She allegedly bashed the boy’s head into the ground multiple times and police say footage also showed her roughly handling the child’s legs and slamming his whole body into the pavement.
“If there’s evil — that’s evil. It’s pure evil. It hurts all of us,” Bel Air Police Department Chief Charles Moore told local reporters on Monday.
Gloria Elena Hughes booking photo Harford Sheriffs County Sheriff’s Office.
Police said investigators learned Hughes had allegedly brushed off a stranger’s attempt to intervene 24 hours before the child died: A Bel Air resident reportedly saw her in a car with the toddler crying. Hughes allegedly told the person to leave her alone and then Hughes drove off in her car.
Police learned Hughes had come to the region from Morganton, North Carolina, amid a “custody battle” with the young boy’s father, Baltimore ABC affiliate WMAR reported. After her arrest, police said they learned that Garcia’s father had previously contacted authorities to alert them that Hughes could be leaving North Carolina and headed for Maryland.
Police also disclosed that Hughes took the child to a local emergency room Saturday where he was treated for ingesting a boric acid suppository, typically an over-the-counter used to treat yeast infections.
Court records obtained by Law&Crime show bond was denied for Hughes by Judge Kerwin Miller when she appeared at the district court in Harford on Monday. She is being detained at the Harford County Detention Center and in the meantime Miller ordered she be evaluated for competency to stand trial.
It is unclear how long that process could take.
When appearing at the courthouse, Hughes was reportedly disoriented and unable to tell the judge why she was there. Prosecutors reportedly described the conduct underlying the murder and felony abuse charges as “barbaric” and “unfathomable” when court convened.
The Harford County District Attorney’s Office did not immediately return a request for comment to Law&Crime on Tuesday.
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