Police believe that black woman burned white child to death

Homicide investigators said a welding torch is the likely weapon used in the murder of 12-year-old Jonathan Foster. "We're talking crematorium-type of hot," said one Houston Police Department Homicide Squad officer assigned to the investigation. Police said they confiscated a badly burned section of carpet from the home of Mona Yvette Nelson, 44, who stands charged with capital murder. She had a welding background and police found welding equipment in her home in Northeast Houston. Police said a section of carpet was badly burned and the smell of a human body filled the area around that carpet. One investigator assigned to the case said it now appears Foster was killed at that spot in Nelson's home within hours of being kidnapped from his family's home. Police say she was acquainted with some members of the boy's family. One officer said that the autopsy has ruled out any trauma on the child's body. There were no broken bones or any signs of strangulation or head wounds, so officers said it now appears the child was killed with a welding torch that could be capable of 6,000-degree flames. "I've never seen burns like this," said one officer who viewed the boy's body after it was found in a ditch. He said that killers often try to cover their tracks by burning the victim's corpse, but in this boy's case, the burning was so intense and thorough that many veteran homicide investigators are struggling with the notion of such a grisly and painful way to die. As for a motive, one investigator said officers believe sexual abuse was behind the crime.