Son shares horrific details in mother's killing, records reveal

Matthew Dempsey, Daniel Saucedo charged with capital murder in mother's killing


SAN ANTONIO – Horrific new details are coming to light in an arrest affidavit for teens suspected of killing a San Antonio mother on Tuesday.

Daniel Saucedo, 18, and Matthew Dempsey, 18, are charged with capital murder in the death of Dempsey's mother, 53-year-old Mary Helen Dempsey. 

An arrest affidavit stated Matthew Dempsey told investigators that he and Saucedo went to his mother's house in the 7500 block of Stagecoach Lane to rob her. Matthew Dempsey said they got into the home using his key and began gathering items that they intended to steal, according to court records.

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Police said that Matthew Dempsey told investigators he was in his bedroom and Saucedo was in the kitchen when Mary Dempsey returned to the home. He confessed to attacking his mother from behind as she turned on the kitchen light and beating her with a baseball bat, records stated. 

Police said that Saucedo grabbed another bat and also began beating Mary Dempsey in the living room, where Mary Dempsey's body was later discovered by her daughter.

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According to the affidavit, one of the two teens then grabbed a knife and cut Mary Dempsey's throat. Saucedo then bound Mary Dempsey, grabbed a blanket and placed it over her body as Matthew Dempsey rummaged through his mother's wallet, the affidavit stated. 

The pair loaded all of the stolen items into Mary Dempsey's beige 2016 Honda Accord, which authorities reported as stolen, and then drove off, according to court records. Police said Matthew Dempsey and Saucedo later went to an ATM to withdraw money from the credit cards that they had stolen from Mary Dempsey's wallet.

On Tuesday, Dempsey's daughter, Jessica Dempsey, told police she was notified by one of her mother's coworkers that she hadn't shown up for work and wasn't answering her phone, so she went to check on her.

When Jessica Dempsey got to the home, she saw both doors were unlocked and saw that her mother's car wasn't in the driveway, the affidavit stated.

According to arrest documents, Jessica Dempsey entered the home, saw the house had been ransacked and saw something covered with a blanket laying on the living room floor. Upon closer inspection, Dempsey saw that there was a person underneath the blanket, along with a pool of blood, so she stepped outside to call police, the affidavit stated.

When police arrived at the scene, they saw that several items had been taken from the home, including the victim's credit cards. San Antonio police said they received a call Monday night for shots fired. They did not go into detail about the actions taken by the officer who responded to the call. Witnesses also told investigators that they saw two men leaving the home Tuesday morning and Monday night. 

Authorities said they began to suspect that Matthew Dempsey was involved in his mother's death and went to his home in the 7600 block of West Military Drive. While there, a detective looked in a trash can and saw clothes that appeared to be stained with blood droplets.

Both Matthew Dempsey and his girlfriend were detained for questioning, and during an interview with investigators, he confessed to the killing.

Matthew Dempsey and Saucedo are behind bars on $1 million bail each. Online records show Dempsey was out on bail on a charge of driving while intoxicated at the time of his mother's killing.