SoCal man indicted in San Diego for killing children in Mexico
Involves death of 2-year-old and 10-year-old
SAN DIEGO, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) - Matthew Taylor Coleman has been indicted by a federal jury for killing his two children.
Coleman allegedly killed his 2-year-old boy and 10-month-old girl in Mexico on Aug. 9, charging Coleman with two counts of foreign first-degree murder. These charges are eligible for the death penalty, however, the Attorney General will later decide to enact the death penalty.
“There are no words to describe the profound grief that envelops an entire community when a child is
murdered,” expressed Acting U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman. “The Department of Justice is determined to
achieve justice for these victims and their loved ones.”
“The murder of a child is difficult to understand under any circumstances,” stated Kristi K. Johnson, the
Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office.
“I’m proud of the quick investigative efforts by FBI Agents, the Santa Barbara Police Department, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and our Mexican counterparts which led to the arrest of Mr. Coleman as he entered the United States, and I look forward to delivering justice for the young victims and their family.”
Coleman had a previous charge of the same crimes filed in Los Angeles but prosecutors were intent on dismissing the complaint.
An affidavit starting the investigation came from Coleman's wife who filed a missing persons report. Coleman was tracked in Rosarito on Sunday afternoon then later tracked him at the San Ysidro Port of Entry at the US-Mexico border.
Coleman was found without his children, so FBI agents contacted officials in Rosarito, where it was reported that Mexican authorities recovered the body of two children matching the description of Coleman's children. Coleman was then taken into custody by the FBI agents.
The FBI, US Customs, Border Protection, and the Santa Barbara Police Department are investigating in tandem with Fiscalía General del Estado de Baja California, and the Secretaría de Seguridad Pública Municipal de Rosarito.
