KILLEEN, Texas (KXXV) — Court documents reveal that 33-year-old Audrea Jaron McCuin allegedly forced his way into a Killeen home on October 11 while intoxicated, kidnapped a 2-year-old from a babysitter, and drove off with the unrestrained child. Police later found the injured toddler alone in McCuin's parked truck after tracking his cellphone, and McCuin now faces burglary charges after texting the child's mother an apology claiming he didn't remember the incident.
- 33-year-old Audrea Jaron McCuin allegedly kidnapped a 2-year-old from a Killeen home while intoxicated on Oct. 11.
- Policesay they found the injured toddler alone in McCuin's parked truck after tracking his cellphone to Brushy Drive
- McCuin faces several charges and texted the child's mother apologizing, claiming he didn't remember the incident
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BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Court documents are providing the most detailed look yet into what investigators say happened the night a 2-year-old Killeen child was taken from a home and later found injured in a truck.
Officers went to a home on Oak Hill Drive on Oct. 11 after a frantic 911 caller reported a kidnapping, according to an affidavit filed by Killeen Police.
25 News' Marc Monroy talked to the mom of that 2-year-old just under a month ago.
Monroy reached out to the mom for a follow up interview, she declined.
"They were trying to smell for him to see where he went and all you heard was barking and everything in the background that was going on," the child's mother told 25 News last month.
Investigators say a man — 33-year-old Audrea Jaron McCuin, also known as "Dre" — forced his way into the home while a babysitter was caring for the child.
The affidavit says McCuin appeared "highly intoxicated," grabbed the toddler, and drove off in a truck with no car seat, leaving the child unrestrained.
When the babysitter tried to stop him, detectives say McCuin slammed her hand in the door and later smashed her phone while she was on the line with 911.
From there, police tracked the suspect's cellphone to a neighborhood on Brushy Creek Drive.
"It eats me up every day that I'll probably go to my grave never knowing what he went through in that time frame," the mother said last month.
That's where officers say they found the truck parked — with the 2-year-old asleep inside, scratched and injured, but alone. Surveillance video from a nearby home, cited in the affidavit, shows McCuin stepping out of the vehicle before leaving the area.
Detectives say McCuin later texted the child's mother apologizing, claiming he had been extremely intoxicated and didn't remember what happened.
McCuin is now charged with burglary of a habitation with intent to commit a felony, with additional charges connected to the child's injuries and the smashed phone.
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