PEORIA, Arizona — A Phoenix mom was killed after jumping on top of her minivan in a desperate bid to stop the father of her infant son from kidnapping the boy inside, police said.
Eric Maes, 30, was arrested after a day-long manhunt during which he abandoned the child on the front steps of a stranger’s house, police in Peoria, Arizona said.
He has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of the baby’s mother, Brittany Martie.
The tragic incident unfolded Tuesday, when officers responded to a report of a domestic violence incident in Peoria.
Police say Martie, 30, had been loading her 10-month-old baby, Abel, into a Chrysler minivan when the boy’s father jumped into the driver’s seat. Maes then sped off with the baby inside, police said.
Maes does not have custody of the baby, police said.
Witnesses told cops they saw Martie grab onto the minivan and hold on while Maes was driving, but that she was thrown off of it as Maes drove away. She was taken to a hospital where she died from her injuries, Peoria police said.
The baby was found safe at about 1 a.m. Wednesday, after he’d been left on the doorstep of a stranger’s home in Phoenix, police said. Martie’s minivan was found abandoned less than a mile away.
On Wednesday afternoon, Phoenix police received a 911 call reporting a possible sighting of Maes. When officers approached, Maes ran but was captured after a search of the area.
