The mother of Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez — a 6-year-old Everman boy missing since March and presumed dead — has been charged with capital murder, Everman police announced Monday.
A Tarrant County grand jury returned an indictment against Cindy Rodriguez-Singh, who is believed to have fled the country. She was also charged with two counts of injury to a child and one count of abandoning without the intent to return, Everman Police Chief Craig Spencer told reporters.
“This is a rewarding part of the investigation where we feel like our work in this effort is finally paying off, that we're able to to find some justice for Noel and push towards that finish line,” he said. “But at the same time, it also confirms our biggest fear.”
Noel was labeled an “endangered missing person” on March 25, the same day an AMBER Alert went out for his disappearance. Police say Rodriguez-Singh and her husband fled to India with six of their children soon after law enforcement opened an investigation. Police have not ruled out charges for the husband, Arshdeep Singh, Spencer said.
It’s been about one year since the last time Noel was seen alive. Police say he was seen at a hospital in October as his mother gave birth to twins.
At the time of his disappearance, Rodriguez-Singh alternately told witnesses Noel was with his biological father in Mexico, with his aunt in Mexico or was sold to a woman in the parking lot of a Fiesta supermarket, according to police. Investigators determined none of those stories were true.
Witnesses also told police Rodriguez-Singh was known to be abusive toward Noel, and that she called her son "evil, possessed or having a demon in him." She did not want Noel — who has intellectual disabilities — near her other children, according to police.
“Every single one of us has had and I mean, to be honest, still has a glimmer of hope,” Spencer said. “I would love nothing more than to be wrong on this case. I think the last thing I want is to have a 6-year-old boy die at the hands of his mother. I mean, that's not what I want, but that's the facts that we're faced here with and that's what we're looking at. And it's our job to bring that to justice.”