4-year-old girl found bludgeoned, mom killed 14 hours after calling 911

By Zoe Brown, Shain Bergan

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    JACKSON COUNTY, Missouri (KCTV) — A man is facing several charges after a woman was found dead in the bathtub and her daughter was bludgeoned and left for dead on the bed this past weekend in Kansas City. They were discovered some 14 hours after the mom had initially called 911.

According to the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office, 29-year-old Jose E. Escalante-Corchado of KCK has been charged with first-degree murder, first-degree assault, two counts of armed criminal action, and first-degree endangering the welfare of a child.

According to records, KCPD officers went to the 7300 block of Wabash on the night of Jan. 15 to check on the welfare of a resident. When officers arrived, they found a young mother, 24-year-old Mackenzie Hopkins, dead in the bathtub and her 4-year-old daughter on the bed suffering from severe head trauma.

Police determined the girl had been severely bludgeoned, and the girl’s mother had been killed elsewhere in the house and then placed in the bathtub, submerged in the water. There were large pools of blood and drag-marks in the house, according to police records.

The young girl was rushed to the hospital and remains in critical condition, according to the prosecutor’s office.

Detectives later found out that Hopkins had called 911 around 6 a.m. that morning, around 14 hours before police entered the home and found the bloody crime scene. The 911 call-taker had heard people fighting on the open line. Police records do not indicate whether police responded to the initial 911 call or how.

Later, police received a call from a concerned family member, responded to the home, went inside and discovered the scene.

Within the blood at the home, police found the print of a specific type of boot and later found a pair of boots that were identified as belonging to Escalante-Corchado.

Detectives also found that Escalante-Corchado’s truck was in the area of Hopkins’ house the same day the crimes were committed.

Surveillance video also showed a man in the area of Hopkins’ home running south, away from it, and then getting into a white truck. That truck was seen pulling into a gas station shortly afterward. The man in the surveillance video was a Hispanic man with black hair.

Escalante-Corchado told detectives that it was him at the gas station. He acknowledged that he knew Hopkins and her daughter.

Escalante-Corchado is charged in Jackson County, but is being held in the Wyandotte County jail without bond.

A GoFundMe was set up Tuesday for the little girl and in memory of the young mother. As of Wednesday morning, that GoFundMe account had raised $7,025 out of the stated goal of $10,000.

The GoFundMe reads:

“Mackenzie Hopkins was taken from this world in a senseless crime on Saturday, January 15th, 2022. Her beautiful little girl was also severely injured and is fighting in the ICU.

Mackenzie was so loved by many. She was an incredible sister, daughter, friend, and mother. Her only wish would be for her sweet little girl to recover as quickly as possible. Thank you for your help caring for our family in our loss.”

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