We’ve all experienced those days when everything seems to be against us, and then one seemingly insignificant problem sends us over the brink. A chirpy 12-year-old was kidnapped from his house on Christmas Eve 2010 in Houston, Texas, only to be discovered burned to death a few days later, evidently the result of someone acting out of anger.
The kidnapping and murder of Jonathan Foster are painstakingly detailed in Investigation Discovery’s “The Interrogator: Missing on Christmas Eve,” which also explains how the authorities were able to identify the murderer. We’ve got your back if you’re interested in learning more about the case and want to know the killer’s identify and present whereabouts. Let’s get started, shall we?
Jonathan Foster’s Cause of Death
Jonathan Paul Foster, a fifth-grader from Texas, was born in November 1998 to Angela Davis and Richard Foster. He had a challenging upbringing due to his parents’ separation when Jonathan was still relatively little. Jonathan was taken in by his uncle Glenn Scrimsher when he was only 6 years old because he believed Angela was unfit to raise a child on her own due to “narcotics, drugs, and alcohol.” The young boy shared Glenn’s Missouri farm for four years, together with his wife and children. Jonathan was a nice young man, Glenn remarked. He resembled my son.
Nevertheless, Jonathan defied Glenn’s wishes and moved back to Texas in November 2009 to live with his grandmother. The child soon insisted on staying with his mother. Jonathan and his mother were staying in Sharon Ennamorato’s apartment at the time of the event since she was a friend of Angela’s. The child had recently started attending Durham Elementary School, and according to his neighbours, was an outgoing and happy child. Jonathan had been told specifically by her mother not to let anyone inside the flat while she was away on the afternoon of December 24, 2010.
According to Angela, just as she was going to arrive at the flat, she received a weird phone call from it at around 2 o’clock. She allegedly overheard a woman ask, “Is your mama’s name Angela?” during the call. The child then reportedly answered, “Yes ma’am, my mama’s name is Angela,” according to the mother. Later, Angela hurried to find her lost son. A missing person’s report was made about 3:45 p.m. David Davis, Jonathan’s stepfather, was the last person to see him alive. The youngster may have fled, the police said at first, but on December 27, 2010, they issued an Amber Alert.
The following day, the police discovered an unidentifiable charred body of a child in a ditch on North Shepherd and 43rd Street in north Houston, roughly five miles from the child’s residence, putting an end to the 4-day search for the missing child. It was twine-tied together and covered in carpet. Surprisingly, the corpse was completely burned and deformed. The forensic professionals were able to positively identify Jonathan Foster’s body using dental records. But even pathologists were unable to identify how the 12-year-old was killed since the body was so horribly burned.
Who was Jonathan Foster’s killer?
The delay in the investigation was initially attributed by the investigators to the divergent accounts provided by Angela and David Davis. They did not provide much facts other from the fact that the parents initially claimed Jonathan was with a babysitter before changing their stories to claim he was by himself in the flat. The police interviewed the family members and other people in great detail, but they were still unable to identify a culprit. However, a surveillance camera close to the location where Jonathan’s body was discovered provided authorities all the evidence they needed to crack the case.
The day Jonathan vanished, at around 6 o’clock in the evening, a silver pickup truck can be seen in the footage stopping close to a ditch in front of a building on East Hardy. The cops added that a woman exited the car and tossed a body out of the truck’s bed onto the ground. Mona Yvette Nelson, who was said to be a “friend” of the family, was named by the authorities when they questioned the neighbours and family members.
Former boxer Mona Nelson was also a welder at the time. She was quickly identified as the case’s main suspect. Mona apparently acknowledged conversing with Jonathan only once, in private, in the apartment just hours before he vanished, but insisted that she immediately left. The police chose to search Nelson’s home and car on the grounds that they believed she was the mysterious caller Angela was said to have received. The police searched her home and discovered twines that matched the ones Jonathan was bound with and welding equipment like torches.
In his official statement, Detective Mike Miller said, “We stumbled into a lot of evidence that indicates Jonathan’s body was burned at the residence, evidence that shows perhaps the instruments he was burned with.” Furthermore, a neighbour of Sharon claimed that Nelson was there on Christmas Eve of 2010 as the family desperately looked for Jonathan. Jonathan was not Nelson’s first act of violence against children, according to the investigators, who labelled her a “cold, ruthless murderer” and predator. Nelson was therefore detained by the police on December 30 on suspicion of capital murder.
Nelson testified in court in August 2013 that the security video showed her assisting Jonathan’s stepfather, David, who had allegedly requested her to empty a full garbage can. She claimed ignorance of what was within as proof of her innocence. Allen Tanner, her attorney, claimed that Nelson received $20 from David to dispose of the body. Call logs and security footage, however, showed David to be present during the crime at a nearby bar, and he was exonerated.
The prosecution displayed charred carpet remnants that resembled the one discovered in the ditch and a hoodie that belonged to Jonathan that was allegedly found in a trash bin at Mona’s house. The garment item proved “positive for blood…that matched Mona Nelson,” according to a forensic specialist. In addition, a neighbour said he observed Mona in her pickup at the driveway of the location where Jonathan was last seen, and that she departed the house 30 minutes later.
Today, where is Mona Nelson?
Despite the lack of a traditional motive, the prosecutor claimed that Mona’s intoxication and explosive temper were to blame for the murder. According to the District Attorney, Mona attacked Jonathan out of rage after he refused to let her into the flat when she was intoxicated. It was also claimed that Mona took the body home, disfigured it with a welding torch, and then dumped it in a ditch.
Mona asked State District Judge Jeannine Barr to decide her penalty in the capital murder case instead of a jury, going against the recommendation of her attorney. She was given a harsh life sentence without the possibility of parole after being found guilty of capital murder. She declined to give a testimony, and after the verdict was announced, she got up to defend herself, saying, “I’m innocent, and I maintain my innocence. I would never hurt anyone.
Following the decision, Angela claimed her son could “finally rest in peace” and expressed complete faith that the Lord would want her to forgive Mona Nelson. Mona is currently detained at the Gatesville Correctional Facility, according to government data. 2015 saw a three-judge panel of the Fourth District Texas Court of Appeals reject her appeal against the ruling. She is currently requesting a petition of habeas corpus from the State Court in order to prove her innocence.
