Warning: Some of the details in this story are very disturbing.
BAYTOWN, Texas – A woman has been charged with the murder of her boyfriend after she fatally shot him and then dismembered his body inside their home, according to the Baytown Police Department.
Cierra Alexis Sutton, 30, has been charged with the murder of 32-year-old Steven Coleman. Detectives say the gruesome crime took place on August 16, 2017 at the Briarwood Village Apartments in Baytown.
According to detectives, Sutton and the victim got into an argument earlier in the evening and later while the victim was sleeping, Sutton shot him in the head, killing him. She then cut up his body with a machete and placed the remains in various dumpsters.
Detectives said several friends reported Sutton confessed to the crime and told them, she dismembered the victim’s body because he was too heavy to carry. Friends also told detectives Sutton said her 10-year-old daughter was inside the apartment at the time.
“How did we not hear anything? Heard nothing at all," said Mikki Rogers, a downstairs neighbor.
Two days after the crime, Sutton reported Coleman was missing at the Baytown Police station.
“She acted like she knew nothing about anything. She was trying to call him, hadn’t heard from him. Family members didn’t get a response," said Rogers.
“There’s always been smiles, talk, no signs of anything that would indicate something like this," said Donald Wooten, another neighbor.
On August 22, detectives were notified of a male torso found at a landfill in Baytown. The description of the body matched the description of the victim, though the remains have not been positively identified as Coleman.
Sutton fled to Louisiana weeks later and dropped off her daughter at a friend’s home in Metairie, a suburb just outside of New Orleans.
Sutton was found on Thursday, September 14 at an apartment complex in Louisiana and was taken into custody. A court date has not been released at this time.
Investigators say dismembered remains of Steven Coleman were found at this Baytown Landfill. They arrested his girlfriend in LA. #khou11 pic.twitter.com/nU5WoTlANn
— Janelle Bludau (@JanelleKHOU) September 17, 2017
Neighbors at apartment complex say Cierra Sutton was worried, looking for Coleman when he went missing; say her arrest is shocking. #KHOU11 pic.twitter.com/zz3al7UH5m
— Janelle Bludau (@JanelleKHOU) September 18, 2017